When listening to country music there’s the mainstream stuff that has shining melodies and lyrics about parties, country life love and the meaning of and then there is the stuff that falls outside of the mainstream and under the big ‘tent’.  Jeffrey Foucault’s Horse Latitudes is one of those latter records.  Like a great Townes Van Zandt, Bruce Robison, Guy Clark or Rodney Crowell record, Horse Latitudes is the kind of record that you listen to from start to finish and then sit there and marvel at how well the recording is put together. 

The record features sterling production (by Jeffrey Foucault and his band) throughout and the songs are simply stunning in their breadth and lyrical scope.  “Everybody’s Famous” talks about the new world of social media and reality television (but smartly never name checks anything) but serves to remind people that “Everybody’s Famous” but everybody’s still the same. The title track kicks off the record and immediately draws you in with some crying steel guitars playing off haunting percussion before Foucault breaks in with that haunting vocal of his.  “Horse Latitudes” is atmospheric yet lyrically strong song that sets up the rest of the record. 

“Pretty Girl In A Small Town” sounds like the kind of song that used to be a frequent feature on strong singer/songwriter fare coming out of Nashville and you know what, it’s not that difficult to picture somebody like Keith Urban recording a tune like this. Regardless of what the song may ‘sound like,’ it’s a sturdy study of a girl who doesn’t realize how great she really is and how she’s better than the bad relationships she’s been in.  “Starlight and Static” reminds me of a Darrell Scott classic and the kind of songs that Ryan Adams built his career upon. 

When it’s all said and done, Horse Latitudes is an album that demands you pay attention to both the lyrics and the melodies.  It’s a collection of songs direct from Jeffrey Foucault’s soul and that’s the kind album that is missing from much of the popular albums on the mainstream markets.  While compared to classic artists, with records like this, Jeffrey Foucault is definitely a unique artist in his own right and Horse Latitudes is a perfect example of that unique talent on display.

Buy: Amazon ($6.99) | Amazon CD | iTunes