ALBUM REVIEW: Gary Louris Reflects on Love and Time in “Dark Country”
Americana Highways, February 17, 2025
Gary Louris Reflects on Love and Time in Dark Country
For decades, Gary Louris has written some of Americana’s finest songs about heartache, longing, and love’s early sparks. But on Dark Country, his deeply personal new album, the longtime Jayhawks frontman turns his focus to something far rarer in popular music: love that lasts. This isn’t about infatuation or fleeting romance; it’s about commitment, resilience, and the quiet beauty of devotion over time.
Louris, whose songwriting, voice, and distinctive Gibson SG guitar helped define the Americana sound, has released solo records before—Vagabonds (2008) and Jump for Joy (2021)—but Dark Country is his most intimate and reflective work yet. Recorded in his home studio in the mountains of Quebec, the album feels unhurried and deeply personal, a stripped-down collection of love letters set to music.
Tolstoy famously wrote, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The same could be said for happily married couples like Louris and his wife, Stephanie. Without conflict, an artist risks losing the tension that makes for compelling songwriting. Dark Country, which Louris calls a love letter to Stephanie, is lush and lovely, but its lyrics often blend together, making it difficult to distinguish one song’s devotion from another. Lines like “you are the air that I breathe / every day you give me a reason to believe” and “you are the sun in my sky / my whole world revolves around your pretty smile” are undeniably heartfelt, yet their similarity across multiple tracks dampens their impact.
As Louris approaches seventy, Dark Country also finds him grappling with time’s passage. On the melancholy “Better to Walk Than to Run,” he reflects: “In the blink of an eye, it all rushes by / Did we find what we were after? / Were we filled with laughter? / Or left only in tears?” The song carries the weight of experience, its spare arrangement making each lyric feel even more profound. Elsewhere, Louris trades his usual twang and jangle for intimate, reflective ballads, creating a peaceful yet slightly haunted sound.
Produced by Louris himself, the album is stripped-down yet rich, built on acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica. Though largely a solo effort, Dark Country does feature a few well-placed guest contributions. Eleanor Whitmore (The Mastersons) provides string arrangements and violin on the tender “By Your Side,” while Stephen McCarthy (The Long Ryders, Jayhawks) adds pedal steel, electric, and baritone guitar on two tracks, including “Better to Walk Than to Run,” which he also co-wrote. Their contributions add depth without overshadowing the album’s intimate feel.
Dark Country is a quiet, contemplative album, best suited for late nights and slow mornings. It does not demand attention, but rewards those who take the time to sit with it. While some lyrics blur together, the album is a poignant meditation on love, aging, and devotion—proof that even after all these years, Gary Louris still has plenty of stories to tell.
Find more details and information here on his website:
https://www.garylourismusic.com/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: The Jayhawks and Tommy Stinson at Bearsville Center in Woodstock