Like the sprawling branches of a tenured Magnolia, Caleb Elliott’s sophomore album Weed, Wine & Time is beauty and grit personified. There are veins of JJ Cale country, the soul-jazz of Michael Kiwanuka, and the lyric fragility of Sufjan Stevens crisscrossing throughout WW&T. With these songs, Elliott’s mastery of craft and nuance are on full display. Track to track, Elliott confidently paints with the full gamut of emotion. From the Spring lightness of the title track to the wrecking-ball weight of FUBC (written in honor of a lost loved one), Elliott grafts equal amounts of healing and hurt into the root system of this record. Elliott’s uncanny ability to marry ear-worm hooks with complex & honest feeling has made WW&T his most impressive album yet.
Weed, Wine & Time is an album replete with soothing catharsis and challenging introspection. It does what all great albums do: It invites a listener to fall in love with both the music and the message. Between it’s joy, heartache, expertise and timeless feel, Weed, Wine & Time is a veritable gumbo of great music. It is a sonic dish carefully prepared with affection and served with the intent to move and to please. WW&T begs you to taste and see. Which is fitting when you consider that Louisiana-born Elliott believes “Nothing says I love you more than making someone a gumbo.” He has done just that, and it is delicious.