The Ugly American

Having released an album of favorite covers with the exceptional Music for Courage and Confidence, Mark Eitzel brought his own songs to new life with a group of Greek musicians who added bouzouki, mandolin, woodwinds, and zourna to American Music Club favorites like "Western Sky," "Jenny," "Last Harbor," and "Will You Find Me." The new instrumentation adds a hypnotic feel to "Here They Roll Down" and an unusually high spirit to "Nightwatchman." This isn't a simple revisit of Eitzel's impressive catalog; it's a complete reinvention of the songs to dramatic effect. "Will You Find Me," in particular, adds an ominous coloring that connects the song between cultures. "Take Courage" sounds like a folk song from centuries before. The album finishes with producer Manolis Famellos' "Love's Humming," which suggests the emotional connection between Eitzel and his backing musicians was there long before they worked together.