By 2004, Bennett had been three years into his Wilco exile and onto his second solo album, Bigger Than Blue. As on his first solo album, The Palace at 4 A.M., Bennett is again joined by singer/songwriter Edward Burch and former Wilco-mates Ken Coomer (drums) and John Stirratt (bass). The musical familiarity and sense of reliability among the players involved on Bigger Than Blue is probably most apparent on "Curiosity". The song opens with Coomer's soft touch on the drums with brushes. Bennett quietly provides the count in by hitting the muted strings of his acoustic before plucking out the song's intro; Stirratt's bass adds the final ingredient.
There was always a sad romantic flavor to Bennett's vocals that could cut straight to the emotional core of a song far better than any guitar chord could do. Foregoing the heavy studio arrangements he had come to be associated with through Wilco's Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Bennett keeps "Curiosity" a fairly straightforward arrangement, adding just a little shade with electric guitar to compliment Coomer's percussion assignment.
"And now I hear that you're still singing thirds/But I'm still drinking fifths," is a lonely line sung by Bennett, but that loneliness is countered by a wry bit of musical humor. Whether Bennett intended it or not, the line evokes a musical breakup; surely, it struck up debates within the Tweedy/Bennett camps. Regardless, Bennett turns in a solid performance with "Curiosity" and displays the mindfulness to song structure and production that seem to come naturally to him.
With Bennett's death just a little over a year old, hearing "Curiosity" carries none of the mournful baggage that often is assigned to artists that have passed on. Bennett remains there in the song, and the fact that someone is still listening serves as the best tribute he could ever hoped to have.
Filed under: ChicagoNow blogs
Tags: Bigger Than Blue, Edward Burch, Jay Bennett, Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Ken Coomer, music, Wilco
