Songs and Other Things

As gorgeous as his instrumental albums are, Verlaine is at his very best when he’s working with the seeming limitations of song form. I say “seeming” because Verlaine does curious things with what can happen within the song — lyrics twist and turn around each other; the vocal delivery shakes and crackles; guitars thread and tangle; chords sweep the song off its feet and set it adrift. There are examples of this all throughout Songs & Other Things, though what’s most remarkable, perhaps, is just how much Verlaine gets out of the simple trio format of most of the material here — “The Earth Is In The Sky” is one of his greatest songs yet; “The Day On You” stretches its limbs like a cat reclining on a couch. Few can write songs as seductive in their elliptical thinking.