Elrod leads the Countrysoulhouse trio, including The Kamikaze Hearts bassist, Bob Buckley and knotworking guitarist, Mike Hotter through a drum-less collection of folky, country-rock, highlighted by the trio?s wonderful harmonies. Recorded in The Knothaus, which has great acoustics and might even be an honest-to-goodness roundhouse, the album opens with ?Lies About Your Shadow,? which has an infectious chorus that I found the voice in my head returning to several days after I put the CD away and there?s a laid-back, Neil Young (ca. ?After The Gold Rush?/?Harvest?/?Comes A Time?) vibe about several tracks, including ?How Things Dance Away,? which opens with a close approximation of ol? Neil?s melody line from ?Only Love Can Break Your Heart.? Others, such as ?Real Country Dark? and ?Your Beautiful Dark? introduce a new term and may be the flagship songs of this new ?dark country? genre that wafts throughout the album. Eschewing steel-toed, shitkickin? boots, cowboy hats and maudlin, lost-my-dog, shot-my-wife lyrics, these tracks are sensitive, emotional examinations of the world around them sung in slow, minor keys to leave a lasting, thought-provoking impression on the listener.

?Transparent Arrow? adds a nice bluesy change of pace to the proceedings and the mournful ?Way Back Down? pushes some of the same buttons as the more melancholic side of Jon DeRosa and his Pale Horse & Rider project. Soft, melancholic, yet heartwarming and very beautiful. 7/10 -- Jeff Penczak (18 December, 2006)