Bob Dylan, now 82, continues to astonish us with not only his amazing body of work but his ability to continue composing memorable songs. “Rough and Rowdy Ways” (2020) was a remarkable album of new songs with considerable variety, particularly his poignant long monologue about the Kennedy assassination, “Murder Most Foul.” Now Dylan has released yet another album, "Shadow Kingdom" (2023), that is effective, not for new songs but for brilliant new arrangements of old songs.
“Shadow Kingdom” began as a 2021 concert film featuring Bob Dylan directed by Israeli-American filmmaker Alma Har’el. Dylan and his musicians wearing masks due to the pandemic performed 13 songs from the first half of Dylan's career in an intimate club setting. It streamed via the Veeps platform. The black and white film has a film noir look, and features musicians pantomiming playing earlier recorded music. Variety reviewed the special, writing that it had “new arrangements so good that pretty much everybody who was watching was clamoring for a soundtrack to the event, preferably on LP.” “Shadow Kingdom” is now available as an album.
I agree that the new arrangements bring new life to so many classic songs: “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue,” “When I Paint My Masterpiece, “Watch the River Flow” and “Tombstone Blues,” all with a slower tempo, allowing Dylan to carefully articulate every syllable. Dylan’s voice is in fine form like whiskey aged in the “deep-delved earth” bringing out a sweetness to enhance the darkness. Dylan has always been a great interpreter of lyrics, including covers, and his phrasing here is simply exquisite and expressive. The original all-star backup musicians, including T Bone Burnett, are superb.
The critics have been generous with praise. Michelangelo Matos in Rolling Stone describes what Dylan has done with his familiar material: “Throughout the entire album, Dylan’s singing is sly and effortlessly powerful. His voice here has body, its rough edges cannily elided, his phrasing constantly finding new angles on lyrics that may once have seemed nailed in place. ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’ sounds like a drunken plea rather than a lover-man come-on.”
The key phrase here is “finding new angles on lyrics that may once have seemed nailed in place.”
“What Was It You Wanted,” a mysterious and more personal song from “Oh Mercy,” is a great example of older material being reinterpreted as something new and fresh. The wary narrator is addressing an unknown person:
“What was it you wanted/Tell me again so I'll know
What's happening in there/What's going on in your show
What was it you wanted/Could you say it again
I'll be back in a minute/You can get it together by then.”
Dylan is backed by moody guitars, bass and adds some haunting blues harmonica, giving it that Dylan signature. There is a suggestion the narrator is Jesus addressing Judas: “Was there somebody looking/When you gave me that kiss?” Writing in The Guardian about the film, Kitty Empire cited Dylan's "poignant drawl" as the high point of the show. Katie Moulton of Consequence considered “What Was It You Wanted” as a “major highlight” of “Shadow Kingdom,” noting that "in the shifting chiaroscuro, and sung by an octogenarian, the song is simultaneously a plea, an accusation, and a long dark reflection."
I am not sure just what that “long dark reflection” exactly represents, but something subtle and powerful drives the mystery of the song with a mesmerizing effect, and Dylan’s performance is memorable.
While many popular singers of the past found their voices getting frayed, and their songs becoming dated, Dylan’s early songs, especially as presented on “Shadow Kingdom,” have found a new birth and relevance. Once again, Bob Dylan has recreated himself.
(6) comments
"God save the queen, man"......maybe he was referring to Dylan Mulvaney.
I saw him twice in the early 70s.....before I realized that I hated hippies.
Yeah that hate thing is a learned behavior. Some people mature from that view and some don't.
Some people know that hippies are worth hating.
And you holier than thou leftists hate as much as anyone you just can't be honest about it,TDS boy.
I love you like my brother. Did I tell you about my brother?
No thanks.
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