Shawn Amos continues to compose what he calls hillbilly soul music, but shifts his emphasis this time out. Where his Band-like Harlem was heavy on symbolism and social commentary, In Between examines love and family life. Whether Amos’ wise, often sly observations come from his living room or are simply well conceived fictions, they are not easily grasped, nor dismissed.
This set finds Amos, whose daughter was born in the past year, encountering the maze of adulthood (and parenthood) with all its gravity, promise, and complications. There are bittersweet reflections on a man’s relationship with his mate (“I’m never gonna see/What you want me to be”) and his child (“I know that you will probably be/Sick of me in your own time”). Doubt and self-examination are ever-present, and any contentment is often countered by frustration.
Amos and his band, Uncle Tom, have a musical sense reminiscent of John Hiatt, and a knack for unlikely instrumental accents. The banjo-billy sendup of Led Zeppelin’s “Hot Dog” and the profane “Sugarsweet” are exquisite fun, but most of In Between is like “Bastard Wind” and “Blood Of Moses” — rocking, moody, and dead serious.