Vic Chesnutt: About To Choke

Vic Chesnutt's dry, fragile yearnings have found a substantial following among other singer/songwriters—see the fine Chesnutt tribute album Sweet Relief II for a who's-who—and listening to About To Choke, his fifth album, you can hear why. With his cracked voice and hyperliterate lyrics ("I might be a sub-realist but I can't substantiate"), his music represents a rare phenomenon: smart songs sung with feeling. His major-label debut, timed nicely to come out only a few months after the high-profile Sweet Relief II, is an excellent showcase for the wheelchair-bound singer/guitarist: Mostly stripped of cumbersome accompaniment, the songs strike a fine balance between bare, Palace-style mewling and accessible pop-rock arrangements. Lots of media attention is paid to Chesnutt's impressively complicated lyrics, but his voice and guitar work are underrated: The tribute album did a nice job showing how effectively his songs can be covered, but few of them were as emotionally affecting as the gorgeous simplicity and beautiful guitar lines of "Swelters" and "Degenerate." Hopefully About To Choke will find him an audience that extends beyond the rock stars and lucky few who've discovered him already.