This isn’t groundbreaking music: You can hear Bruce Springsteen here, 16 Horsepower there, and some dark, gospel-infused folk along the way. But it’s all so full of soul, so unadorned; it’s a sound that always feels as if it’s reaching toward the sky. The music seems bigger than it is.
Out Jan. 31, Like a Fire That Consumes All Before It… is Arcuragi’s third full-length album and, like 2009′s I Am Become Joy, it features his fine band The Lupine Chorale Society. I’ve heard Arcuragi refer to this music as “Death Gospel” — a term that certainly implies darkness — but a passionate infusion of Southern roots music helps make Like a Fire seem lighter than expected. With his poetic preaching and rousing choruses, Arcuragi crafts songs of community, with music that binds.
