GRANT lee PHilliPS

Widdershins 8/10

Rousing rallying cry from ex-Buffalo soldier

Recorded more or less live over four Nashville days, Widdershins establishes a thematic connection to Grant Lee Buffalo’s 1993 classic Fuzzy, another album made at a time of acute social anxiety, and which balanced consummate songwriting with poetic urgency. The lively “Walk In Circles” rails against religious zealots and warmongers; “King Of Catastrophes” is a deceptively gentle tirade directed at rising fascism (“I’ve read too many books, I can’t ignore the warning signs…”), while the Neil Youngesque “History Has Their Number” finds hope among the gathering darkness, using the lessons of the past to counsel against rage and cynicism. A career highlight in low times.