Get Lonely

Personnel: John Darnielle (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano); Franklin Bruno (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, organ); Erik Friedlander (cello); Gene Baker (trumpet); Jennifer Baker (trombone); Peter Hughes , Scott Solter (vibraphone, percussion); Corey Fogel (drums).
Recording information: Prairie Sun (02/2006-03/2006).
Unknown Contributor Role: Scott Solter.
John Darnielle's stark, emotive singing and songwriting evolves with every Mountain Goats release. Where early Mountain Goats albums boasted obscure, no-fi recordings, Darnielle had honed his songs and performances to an amazingly effective, razor-sharp edge by 2006's GET LONELY.
2005's THE SUNSET TREE proved Darnielle a confessional songwriter par excellence, and the bitterness and raw emotion of that album made it one of the Mountain Goats' best. But GET LONELY does its predecessor one better. Equally personal, but pensive and quiet in mood, GET LONELY is less confrontational but more quietly powerful. The album brims with subtle, beautifully arranged instrumentation and crisp sound. If Darnielle--with his detail-rich narratives and keening delivery-- still sounds like he's teetering at the emotional brink, it is with a sense of self-possession and profound, finely tuned melancholy.