Danny Arakaki - Tumble in Shade LP

As guitarist/vocalist for Garcia Peoples, Danny Arakaki has spent the last several years building up one of the most solid discographies in recent memory. Each new GP LP is a step forward, as the band zeroes in and zones out on classic rock sounds that are at once both familiar and fresh. Garcia Peoples is a collective effort, with multiple songwriters and singers sharing the spotlight equally, family-style.

With that in mind, you might assume that Tumble In Shade, Arakaki’s debut solo album, would see the songwriter claiming center stage. But —even though Danny certainly shines plenty on these seven tracks — that’s not really the case. Instead, the album feels driven by a communal, collaborative spirit, generous and wide-open.

Arakaki has gathered together a fairly astonishing multi-generational collection of underground legends to back him up here. We’ve got Mike Bones (Weak Signal, Endless Boogie, Soldiers of Fortune) providing wicked lead guitar and Dan Iead (Broken West, Jess Williamson, Radar Bros.) on perfectly baked pedal steel. We’ve got Rachel Herman and Samara Lubelski (The Sonora Pine, Tower Recordings, Chelsea Light Moving) on dreamily droning violin and Jef Brown (Jackie-O-Motherfucker, Gospel of Mars) on righteous sax. The sturdy, imaginative rhythm section is Ryan Jewell (Chris Forsyth, Ryley Walker, Mosses) and Chad Laird (Jantar, Prince Rupert’s Drops). The elegant keyboards are courtesy of Office Culture’s Winston Cook-Wilson, while Andi Magenheimer and Helen Rush (Tower Recordings, Metal Mountains) pop in with harmonious backing vocals.

It’s a dream team, to say the least, and each musician delivers the goods throughout, whether it’s Bones, Herman and Cook-Wilson soaring together over the extended outro on “Crosswalk Heat” or the beautifully shifting sands of Jewell’s percussion on “Somewhere Else” or the Red Rhodes-meets-Bert-Jansch flavors that Iead brings to “Out of Reach.” Arakaki wisely gives his team plenty of room to play and the results are predictably magnificent.

Of course, even great musicians need great songs — and fortunately, Danny has plenty of those. Recorded at Jason Meagher’s Black Dirt Studio and Gary’s Electric in Brooklyn, the tunes on Tumble In Shade twist and turn, never ending up quite where you expect them to, but somehow maintaining a logical ebb and flow. This river has plenty of bends, but a welcoming destination is always in sight. Arakaki’s vocals sound more confident and comfortable than ever, and his lyrics are equal parts bitter and sweet. “If only for a moment we could be just like we wanted to,” he sings on “Make It Out,” the album’s closer. Tumble In Shade is full of those kinds of moments.

-Tyler Wilcox