Alex Izenberg & The Exiles – “Drinking The Dusk Away”

Alex Izenberg’s last album found the pop chameleon creeping around the edges of Nilsson and Newman, but as he expands his sound with a first foray into a full band format, the shadow of JJ Cale looms large. “Drinking the Dusk Away,” slips below the the surface, following the sun down through cheap whiskey wonders with a neon blur chasing away the merchants of memory. There’s a sleaze-slicked crunch on the guitars, but touches of pedal steel and strings give it grace. The new outfit, The Exiles, expands Izenberg’s circle to include drummer Jay Rudolph (Weyes Blood), keyboardist Tyler Cash (Devendra Banhart), bassist Max Whipple (Sparks), pedal steel guitarist Connor Gallaher (Jeffrey Silverstein), saxophonist Colin Kupka, guitarist Dashiell Le Francis, and vocalists Marina Allen, Juliana Giraffe, Gracie Jackson, and Colby Nathan, all accompanied by string arrangements from Izenberg and Cynthia Tolson (MUNA). The songs themselves were hammered out with longtime friend, collaborator, and multi-instrumentalist Greg Hartunian. The new record, Alex Izenberg & The Exiles, is out July 26th from Domino/Weird World.

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