Steve Gunn’s “The Unseen in Between”: Understated, refined, and worth the listen

Already at his 19th album since his first solo release in 2007, Steve Gunn’s latest effort, The Unseen in Between (2019) marks itself as one of Gunn’s most polished albums to date, with mature songwriting and strong guitar playing. As prolific as he may be, Gunn continues to crank out solid material, while still finding time to tour. Gunn played The Chapel in San Francisco on February 16th and will continue touring throughout Europe and the U.S. for the next several months.

Like much of Gunn’s work, the album is an understated collection of folk-rock songs with mystical undertones. The songs are laid back, and, while not all of the tracks are outstanding, none of them are bad. Tony Garnier, Bob Dylan’s long-time bassist and musical director, provides occasional tasteful basslines as part of a tight band. But, as usual, Gunn’s guitar and vocals do most of the work.

Among the collection of solid tracks, “Vagabond,” “Stonehurst Cowboy,” “Lightning Field,” and “Paranoid,” stand out as excellent. On “Vagabond,” there is a blend of acoustic and electric guitar as Gunn tells a tragic tale of a vagabond, based off Agnes Varda’s 1985 film of the same name. Gunn laments the death of a free spirit, singing, “They called you mad for singing/ Do you remember when you blew away?… Frozen in a ditch/ cold, deep stare like a cat/ and we’ll move along… You’re a vagabond/ and you’ll move along.” Although in the film, the heroine dies in a cold ditch, Gunn’s song focuses on the strength of the vagabond’s spirit and fierce will for independence, moving along past death. There are several layers of instrumentation that culminate in breezy, rhythmic melody, and an upbeat tone despite some of the macabre lyrics. 

“Stonehurst Cowboy” is Gunn’s confident, mournful tribute to his recently deceased father. It is a stripped down track, with simple acoustic guitar and vocals, and the guitarist describes his process of grief in attempt to honor his father’s tough, gritty spirit. Along with the slow, methodical fingerpicking, Gunn sings “Fastest hands, in the West/ Call his name, he knows best/ Tonight I’m past the world,” and that “Trees are strong/ Faces are gone/ My background is the same.” Above all, the song describes his own resilience, as well as how he has been shaped by and what he has learned from his father.

Of the many songs with lyrics that mention rain, the moon, and the sky, “Lightning Fields” is one of the best. Healthy doses of electric guitar riffs abound between a chorus that reflects on the inevitability of death contrasted with the vitality of life and movement. “Paranoid,” the album’s closing track, is a well-polished song with signature abstract lyrics that examines a debilitating paranoia.

This is an album that grows in strength with multiple listens. Multi-layered tracks are beautifully produced by James Elkington, and Gunn is at his most confident as a songwriter and guitarist. Harmonies pop out more on the second and third listen as do lines like “Refracting gold bloom” from “Paranoid.” With Gunn’s songwriting and guitar chops in excellent form on this latest album, he adds to a very respectable canon of material that includes collaborations with Hiss Golden Messenger and Kurt Vile. Considering his form and already impressive body of work, Steve Gunn’s 2019 tour should include some of his best shows to date.

Article by Jack Austin