Tedeschi Trucks Band - I Am The Moon: IV. Farewell (2022)

What makes it obvious that this is the closing chapter of the Tedeschi Trucks Band's ambitious multi-volume project keyed to the phases of the moon? Well, nothing actually. The story, which revolves around a 12th century Sufi poem, became less clear and less of a motivating factor as the albums continued.

These are simply four sets of love songs, all of them beautifully sung and played, but very much inside the same southern jam rock/R&B wheelhouse that the band has always operated. Susan Tedeschi's voice is reason enough to listen to any Tedeschi Trucks Band recording but it's not clear that over two hours of music released over three months won't be received as a numbing avalanche. Given that the material on all these volumes is similar the whole way through, that fatigue sets in early with I Am The Moon IV. Farewell. Like the previous three volumes, the finale benefits from the full sound, good recording quality and instrumental variety generated by the 12-piece version of the band. Having five capable vocalists available, especially for a recording project of this size, can never be a bad thing. While the music may have been a secondary concern to the films they are meant to accompany, as well as templates for the live jams they will evolve into, easy-going blues tunes like "Last Night In The Rain" that Tedeschi nails vocally in clever stanzas ("Went down to the station/ To catch the morning train/ One ticket to lonely/ One ticket to Spain") are the band at their best. "Soul Sweet Song" is an amiable, bouncy, light R&B number. And "Where Are My Friends?"—written and sung by vocalist/guitarist Mike Mattison—has a chorus line ("At the heart of the matter") that is one of the entire project's most memorable and connected moments. Less a journey than a mass of material composed during the pandemic-enforced downtime, I Am The Moon could have been cut down into a killer single or very solid double album.

Tracklist
1 Last Night in the Rain
2 Soul Sweet Song
3 D'Gary
4 Where Are My Friends?
5 I Can Feel You Smiling
6 Another Day