Judson Claiborne - Time and Temperature

Judson Claiborne
Time and Temperature
(La Société Expéditionnaire)
Rating: 3.3 of 5


When the transitions between seasons may leave you spiritless, sometimes there is solace in solitude. Chris Salveter aka Judson Claiborne understands this better than many. With his former slowcore band Low Skies on hiatus, Chris spent a lazy nine months spanning from summer of ’08 to early ‘09 writing and recording a second solo album—this time to be released on La Société Expéditionnaire.

Sauntering along in indie folk song format, Time and Temperature tosses in elements of bareboned neo-Baroque, alt-country, and Appalachian music. Through the vocal evocation of a weathered Jason Collett, Salveter spins yarns about waiting and wandering in pining romanticism.

In front of straggling guitar lines, Salveter sings ‘Baby, you can tell the songs so well to a stranger you don’t mind / where they’re from or what they’ve done or when there’s anger in their eyes’ on the simple and reflective “A Song for Dreaming”. The pronounced “Oh Cyril” comes next in sequence; following each sparse verse with a clement horn-sweeping chorus. “My How We Change!” and closer “Moonraker” are other ragged standouts.

What Judson Claiborne does with negative space is a marvelous achievement. Allowing the songs to promenade at their own intended speed lends the record a discreet maturity. ‘When the twilight spirit comes around, I’ll be somewhere nearing with my head to the ground’, he sings on the opening track. Salveter certainly understands the virtue that is patience.

As the cheerless inertia of the winter season slowly ferments into the halcyon swell of spring, Time and Temperature will accompany you in the gap.

Twilight Spirit - Judson Claiborne

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