Will Courtney Record Review

Resettled back to Central Texas, Will Courtney has likewise returned to a comfortable sound with third solo LP Crazy Love. 2016's Planning Escapes struck searchingly, diving into rootsy power-pop and a nostalgia for "The Days When Bands Could Make You Cry." Now, the former Brothers & Sisters frontman's latest platter rings even more confident in building a wall of sound from heavy Sixties and Seventies influences, such as Courtney's warm, nasal tenor ringing like Tom Petty. Opener "Too High Now" stings with Crazy Horse guitars, a wailing influence reinforced by covering late Neil Young sideman Danny Whitten on "Look at All the Things." Alt.country licks surface on the title track and steel-drenched "Drunk on Your Songs Again" and "When Will I Find My Love," which ache with a Jay Farrar loneliness. The song cycle turns through tunes about waiting out a wilting love through wasted nights, a classic theme reworked in Courtney's oddly soothing limited vocals. The final pairing of "Finally" and "Partner in Time" work back to find resolution and love. As with Brothers & Sisters' psych-laced pop harmony, Courtney doesn't try to remake the sound as much as find his perfect place within it.