(Sub Pop)

www.subpop.com

Dear Companion tugs on the heartstrings with understated force - a gentle indictment not only of corporate greed but also the apathy that enables it. The album, the first collaboration between soulful pop cellist Ben Sollee and neo-folkie Daniel Martin Moore, has a stated objective: end mountaintop removal mining. For the uninformed, the environmentally devastating practice involves literally beheading mountains with tons of explosives to gain fast and cheap access to coal. It has turned thousands of acres of pristine Southern Appalachian forests into vast industrial wastelands and left small communities of innocent mountain folk to deal with the fallout. Both residents of Kentucky, Sollee and Moore see the ongoing destruction firsthand, so they've decided to fight back with song.

Their method, though, features very little finger-pointing protest. With production help and the occasional reverb-soaked vocal layer from fellow Kentuckian Jim James of My Morning Jacket, the complementary singer-songwriters instead weave a narrative of emotional response to adversity that's just as much about self-reflection as it is about exposing injustice.

Through mellow chamber folk, mountain-hued blues, and acoustic soul, the duo mourns surrounding turmoil with harmonies both soothing and soaring, along with a gospel-driven spirit. The album's title track is a cry for help embedded in a storm of banjo, cello and a strong backbeat. Moore also speaks from the front porch perspective of the marginalized in "Flyrock Blues" with some delicate rocking chair finger-picking and a soft temper as he sings: "In West Virginia, the water's bad, and there ain't no peace to be had." When the mood switches to optimism, Sollee changes the tone to the sunny Motown bounce of "Try." The pair also pays homage to the land they are trying to protect with the backwoods instrumental "Wilson Creek." 

In "Only a Song," Sollee looks at his own place in the situation and admits guilt in his suburban comfort: "I didn't really grow until I learned how so many others lived." The songs chorus proclaims: "This is only a song, it can't change the world."

If more musicians were this honest with themselves that wouldn't be true.

Standout Tracks: "Only a Song," "Flyrock Blues" JEDD FERRIS