Buck Meek: ‘The Mirror’ – Bound to attract fans of Big Thief and enthusiasts of stripped-back country alike (Album Review)

Texas-born-and-raised Buck Meek doesn’t shy away from matters of the vulnerable or precious; in fact, they seem to be among his chief concerns in life and creation alike. In his contributions to Big Thief’s work, Meek has always added a sort of unfettered innocence to the tracks, whether in the drippy twang of his guitar style or lyrical input juxtaposed against Adrianne Lenker’s more searching poetic inclinations.

The topics of interest and languid staples central to the Big Thief mythology – equal parts humorous and existential wordplay, romantic fragility, and a dash of the esoteric remain in Buck Meek’s newest album The Mirror – but the answers to their oft-explored questions feel less evasive and more cautiously enveloping with Meek steering the wheel. Very perceptibly led by Meek’s diplomatic posturing and openhearted queries, The Mirror is perhaps best described as ‘the communality of country music without the egotism.‘

The Mirror is a carefully romantic record at its center, with flowery single ‘Gasoline’ – equal parts twiney core and botanical spillover – opening with, ‘Making words up while we made love / One month and she’s in my blood / Will it be me or will it be her / To say I love you first?‘  There has always been a definitive “sensitive liberal cowboy” disposition omniscient throughout the ranks of his solo work, a persona that leans less on the hardened mythology of outlaw country and more on the moral introspection of a wandering observer.

Standout country tracks such as ‘Ring of Fire’ and ‘God Only Knows’ reveal an artist more interested in the emotional and ethical terrain of the genre than its performative ruggedness, allowing vulnerability and conscience to sit comfortably alongside twanging guitars and open-road romanticism.

‘Heart in The Mirror,’ arguably the emotional centerpiece of the record, resolves the difficulties of acclimating to inflated expectations and baggage attached to the art one produces: ‘Many years I’ve lived in fear of bullies and critics / But now I know the thing they loathe is seeing their own fear in the mirror.‘ Still, the record is sonically full-bodied. Adrianne’s auroral voice occasionally brushes against the backdrop of Meek’s gentle-twang delivery and enveloping, sunbaked instrumental style, with James Krivenchia of Big Thief applying gentle, amoeba-esque electronics to select tracks.

It’s this combination – a decidedly communal sound with many of the hallmarks of Big Thief preserved, and Buck’s own stylistic reckoning – that is bound to attract fans of Big Thief and enthusiasts of stripped-back country alike. ‘The Mirror’ is serves as a life-affirming project both for himself and his loyal followers, and a fitting reminder of who Buck is as a creative – whether he is adding to the flurry of the Big Thief universe or taking a step back to fully bask in his own creative convictions.