Label: XL Recordings
The Deal: Mellow folkie's dreamy debut.
The Good: This one takes a little getting used to. Your initial impression might be -- how the hell did this guy get a record deal? Perhaps the last name, Perkins is the key. His dad was Psycho's Anthony, the Bates Motel's crazed proprietor. But as you get deeper into the work, you discover that Perkins is not riding on daddy's coattails, and there's nothing crazy about his earnest, down-to-earth folkie style. At first, it seems too simple, almost like karaoke material. But his charm wears you down. His vocals have a ragged, little boy quality to them. Elvis (his given name) doesn't always hit the note on the nose, but usually ends up somewhere in the vicinity. It's endearing rather than irritating. His lyrics are those of a sleepwalker, moving through the world but not fully in it. "Emile's Vietnam in the Sky" is a surrealistic dreamscape with French a subtitles, like the Asylum Street Spankers drunk on absinthe, with Perkins wondering aloud where you go when you die. The Van Morrison-like title cut, "Ash Wednesday" is the most powerful, written the first Ash Wednesday after the 9/11 disaster. Although he doesn't allude to it directly, Perkins' pain is palpable as he mourns his mother, photographer Berry Berenson, a passenger on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.
The Bad: It's a bit too melancholy to digest in one sitting, like overdosing on Leonard Cohen.
The Verdict: Soak in it occasionally to relieve pressure. Apply as needed.