Joe Henry: All the Eye Can See
Like so many other artists, Joe Henry decided that the best way he could spend his pandemic downtime was to try to generate something positive: that meant writing. What resulted, the singer-songwriter and world-class producer (Rhiannon Giddens, Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt) has said, are 14 of most personal songs of his career. The words he sings bear him out, but what makes All the Eye Can See a particularly noteworthy addition to Henry’s significant canon is that his intimate thoughts can so simply become ours too. To resonate with a listener, Henry doesn’t need to write directly about the loneliness, fear and isolation that permeated all of humanity during the time immediately following the release of his previous album, 2019’s The Gospel According to Water. Instead, he finds commonalities by opening himself up, completely and without barriers. Henry dug into his contacts list for help, and those who peruse the guest list will surely spot some familiar names: Daniel Lanois, Marc Ribot, The Milk Carton Kids, Bill Frisell. That their presence—and this is quite often a very large-sounding recording—fleshes out Henry’s well-crafted lyrics goes without saying, but its ultimately the artist’s vision that brings these songs home. There are no wasted words, and the visuals sparkle. “Someone broke into my eyes and took what they could see/ Took my breath and held it far too long—the crowd for the hanging shook,” he sings at the start of “Small Wonder,” one of several numbers that straddle a fine line between the minimal and the massive. “Near to the Ground” is another whose every phrase begs to be contemplated: “Yes, there we were, on the floor of your room? talking at length of your mother/ Counting her scars like the rings of a tree/ Tell stories of lightning and thunder/ You couldn’t live on in that fallen world, no matter the love or the treasure—both buried alive.” Of course, it’s just as rewarding—maybe even more so—to forego all of that close attention, paying and just soak it all in. Either way, you come out ahead.
