Richmond Fontaine The High Country

The High Country weaves a bleak and vivid tale of disaffected young adults living in an isolated logging town. Through varied styles and devices, the album's 17 tracks relate their struggles with depression, jealousy, love and drug abuse and employs an incredible mix of narrative ballads, spoken dialog, driving rock and ambient experimentation. Described by the Portland, Oregon band as an operatic tragedy, The High Country is an ambitious feat of imagination, atmosphere and storytelling.

This variety continues with the character point-of-views and narrative voices explored; each character's voice is unique and the album allows each their say. Let Me Dream of the High Country operates like a soliloquy and effectively gives insight into the character, while also being a painfully beautiful lament and a great song on its own. The Mechanic's Life and The Meeting on the Logging Road are similarly successful. Richmond Fontaine's use of recurring narrative images and musical hooks elevate the album above your typical “concept.” The image of the personified trees is particularly powerful. In one way, the remaining trees, scarred survivors of the logging, reflect the characters. These trees, personified as they are, also comment on the action like a Greek chorus.

The High Country straddles the line between narrative and musical record, and it functions better as the former than the latter. It is certainly better than the sum of its parts as each song is closely woven into the story adding crucial cohesiveness. However, the tracks, individually or out of context, do not have the same effect. This is particularly true for the wordless experimental songs, The Girl on the Logging Road, I Can See a Room, and Leaving. They play important roles in the pacing of the album, usually allowing for emotional reflection after an event, but they can not solidly stand as songs on their own.

From a narrative standpoint, The Escape feels rushed. Several major plot events, including deaths, reunions and redemption, occur during the track's three and a half minutes without the expected emotional resonance. Similarly, the album could have benefited from additional songs with the intensity of Angus King Tries to Leave the House. It can be a struggle at times to keep the characters and their love triangles straight, but The High Country demands and certainly rewards careful, uninterrupted listening.

Richmond Fontaine should be commended for bucking the singles trend and crafting an album that functions best, possibly only, as a whole, especially amid rumors of the album's impending demise. The High Country is solid evidence for the format's longevity and a reason to hope it sticks around.