Jonathan Wilson: Eat the Worm

There are times in a musician’s career when their extracurricular work can shield their true nature. Take North Carolina’s Jonathan Wilson, who in 2011 was the recipient of Uncut magazine’s New Artist of the Year accolade yet subsequently avoided the solo spotlight by teaming up or touring with Robbie Robertson, Tom Petty, Bert Jansch and, more recently, Roger Waters (with whom he is on tour until the end of the year, providing pristine, pitch-perfect guitar solos on numerous Pink Floyd classics).

Wilson in a solo capacity is altogether a different kettle of slippery fish. Or, as he says in the liner notes of this album’s recording process, “I’m finally at a place to feel totally free to take chances.” Cue a degree of experimentation that enables Wilson to deliver songs ranging from the Tom Waits-meets-Frank Zappa flurry of Marzipan and the semi-orchestral zippiness of The Village Is Dead to the guitar-picking psychedelic folksiness of Lo and Behold and the bossa-nova swing of Wim Hof (named after the Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand below-zero temperatures).

The result of Wilson’s unconstrained work is a treasure chest that blends several surprises with microdots of strangeness. You’d almost wish he didn’t have to pay the bills by going over to the dark side of the moon, but such is life for a working musician.