Buddy & Julie Miller – Breakdown On 20th Ave. South (2019) [FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz]

Mr & Mrs Miller might have been married since 1981, but believe it or not, Breakdown on 20th Ave. South is only their fourth album together, and the first in a span of ten years since the excellent Written in Chalk was released. That in itself is a shame – up to this point, the labors of love between the two alternative country stars have been brilliantly classical; beautiful, uncompromising and upfront. To be frank, a yearly dose would do no one harm. Buddy and Julie Miller are thick as thieves, which is nothing new really, but the honesty in their relationship is overwhelming. They sing about broken hearts, love lost to time, about “the old days”, sickness, death and hope. And above all, their voices: there is magic in the way their voices meld together, from Julie’s elf-like, Rickie Lee Jones warble, to her husband’s ever-gritty rasp. Porcelain and oak, yin and yang with the power to silence entire crowds. Then there’s the instrumentation itself: a fine wine for any Americana connoisseur. Buddy might be a freak guitarist, venerated by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams, but he also knows when – and how – to hold back. “What Julie and I create together satisfies me like nothing else in the world, and I should have given more time to that” he says. Julie’s health problems (Fibromyalgia, a form of severe joint and muscle pain) and the ever-looming fear of losing a loved one brought him down to earth, as she explains: “I took too much time to express my feelings. It was as if I was waiting for my turn. I know he feels guilty about it. I was sick and depressed which made everything complicated. Once he knew how I was feeling, he became incredibly kind and really focused to help me create what I wanted.” Recorded in the bedroom above their home studio in Nashville, Breakdown on 20th Ave. South (the address of the place itself) is that gut-wrenching, hold-on-to-your-hats kind of moment. Appalachian folk intertwined with sepia-tone honky tonk, melancholy rock’n’roll and bare-bones country music. Breakdown, thy name is candour and power. – Marc Zisman

Tracklist:
01. Breakdown On 20th Ave. South
02. Feast Of The Dead
03. Everything Is Your Fault
04. Unused Heart
05. I’m Gonna Make You Love Me
06. Till The Stardust Comes Apart
07. Underneath The Sky
08. Spittin’ On Fire
09. Secret
10. War Child
11. Thoughts At 2am
12. Storm Of Kisses
13. Can’t Cry Hard Enough (Bonus Track)
14. You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast (Live)

Download:

mqs.link_BuddyJulieMillerBreakd0wn0n20thAve.S0uth20192444.1.rar