The Deslondes planned to take some time off after touring in support of 2017's
Hurry Home, but the break ended up being longer than they expected. First
Sam Doores cut a solo album (2020's
Sam Doores) and
Riley Downing followed suit (2021's
Start It Over), then COVID-19 left everyone stranded with nowhere to go for a while. Inactivity finally got to
the Deslondes, and they got together at their favorite bar in their hometown of New Orleans for a series of songwriting and rehearsal sessions, taking their new songs into the studio to cut their first album in five years, 2022's
Ways & Means. The finished product sounds like the work of some longtime friends who are having a great time hanging out after not seeing each other for a while, but it also suggests the guys had been doing some thinking while life had them otherwise occupied.
Ways & Means contains all the ingredients that made
the Deslondes' first two albums so pleasing, and their laid-back but heartfelt mix of country, blues, vintage soul, and Southern rock -- not too loose and not too wound up -- still satisfies in the same ways. The musicians have also added a few new instrumental flavors to the formula: flute, saxophone, electric piano, synthesizers, and strings pop up in the arrangements, stretching the boundaries of their rootsy sounds.
Ways & Means feels a little bit baked instead of a wee bit drunk, like their previous LPs, though it certainly works for this music, and adds to the "older and just a little bit wiser" outlook of the songs. The album manages to sound world-weary and nostalgic about the wild days on the road at the same time, and it's a mood these players can pull off with aplomb, especially when
Downing brings his big, weatherbeaten voice to the forefront. (
Doores' more approachable singing is also in fine shape, especially on the title track, where he's joined by
Margo Price.) Some records want to re-create the sound of a rowdy honky-tonk on a Saturday night;
Ways & Means instead captures the sound and feel of a bunch of good friends hanging out around the fire in the backyard, only with a diverse array of musical instruments at their disposal, and the music is a smokey, sweet reminder of how good a feeling that can be. ~ Mark Deming
