Spectreview: Arthur Russell – Iowa Dream

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“It’s the last time I’ll sit on this fence for you
And from what you say
I guess it’s past time
And I’ll never see you again”

The cover of Iowa Dream, yet another robust collection pulled from Arthur Russell’s seemingly-bottomless archives, finds the late master of eclectic songwriting looking a lot like those wild-haired pop-rock pioneers of the early 70s: Todd Rundgren, Alex Chilton, what have you. Poised on a stool in a spacious makeshift studio – the kind that did, and will always, smell like a library – Russell stares transfixed at sheet music, that which denotes thoughtful compositional structure (verses, choruses, codas) in opposition to World of Echo’s defining freeform soundscapes and the repetitive unspooling of his nascent disco work. The image is a purposeful focal point for this new collection; while Russell’s reputation transcends both time and genre (not to mention corporeality) and previous collections like 2004’s Love Is Overtaking Me have already approached traditional folk/country arrangements, he’s never come as close to pure pop pleasure as what’s demonstrated here. One could imagine an alternate universe where, given a little fine-tuning, tracks like the jangly, bouncy “You Did It Yourself” and the galloping, psychedelia-tinged “Iowa Dream” decorate FM radio right next to Fleetwood Mac and Carole King.

There are certainly “single” moments speckled across Iowa Dream’s diverse 19 tracks, but it’s also astounding how consistently solid these tracks are in general. Russell’s understanding of popular styles feels complete enough where he’s able to affix his signature mark on everything from singer-songwriter unfurlings to Sunday-lit AM rock to gentle country and folk. “Words Of Love’s” 12-string guitar is the secret to its folky sweetness; “Barefoot in New York,” anchored by rambling spoken-word poetry, feels as bustling, bohemian and stutteringly anxious as its namesake city; the thin percussion and sultry delivery of “List of Boys” predicts his forays into dance music; meanwhile, more experimental takes like “Wonder Boy” and “Just Regular People” feel like unreleased Third demos sans all the spiraling. Culled from unfinished demos recorded in the mid-’70s, the variety of production quality helps energize the album’s flow while lending a deeper sense of place: note how “Sharper Eyes” gains a soft, dewy feel that makes it more engrossing, or how “Everybody Everybody’s” residual studio reverb keeps it dreamier than it ought to be. Not every track is a unquestionable winner – the otherwise-bumbling “I Felt” gets by on its goofy juvenility and there might be one too many sparse piano ballads – but at this point it’s mere quibbling when every wondrous song pulled from Russell’s backlog adds even more weight to his passing from AIDS-related complications. At least for the time being, in the confines of its sonic fields, Iowa Dream rewrites the history books to include Russell as a unique voice swimming through America’s golden airwaves.

Recommended for everyone on PrEP.