Billy Bob Thornton
Hobo
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For his third album, Billy Bob Thornton takes us on a twisting journey through California's truck-stops and forgotten towns. The idea is to chronicle some of the drifters that roll through in search of fame or just a place to die. His compelling narratives and noir-ish Americana do the trick nicely.
As an unrepentant cig smoker whose marble-mouthed drawl betrays a smidgen of goofiness, Billy Bob Thornton isn't much of a singer. Yet he stays within his range and doesn't overemote; the wistful shuffle "I Used to Be a Lion" finds him effectively portraying a man looking back on better times. His conversational tone suits the James McMurtry-style narrative of "Orange County Suicide" even better,
Read More as Thornton sketches keenly observed characters such as "the haggard li'l spouse [who] had a thing for seedy bars." While Thornton's breathiness can sound affected, and "Gray Walls" -- about how a cliffside mansion in Malibu doesn't guarantee happiness -- isn't exactly a revelation, his backing band's burnished, kinda-country sound is custom-made for top-down nighttime drives through the desert.
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