Tyler Childers " Can I take my hounds to Heaven?" Album:

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Resident country, folk and bluegrass crooner Tyler Childers returned to the scene on Sept. 30 for the first time since 2020. Childers collaborated with his longtime backing band, the Food Stamps. Their album, entitled “Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven,” boasts a tracklist with eight songs–but with a twist. They present each song in three different styles: the “Hallelujah” version, “Jubilee” version and “Joyful Noise” version.

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The Holy Ghost, aka the “Joyful Noise” versions, are an abrupt tonal and musical departure from the first two volumes. Essentially, the songs are presented as sound collages. Instead of vocals, “Old Country Church (Joyful Noise Version)” features a spoken-word soliloquy on the role of the Baptist church in Southern white communities. Elsewhere, snippets of pieces of church services, dialogue from The Andy Griffith Show, and speeches from theologian Thomas Merton are randomly interpolated. For the most part, there are no verses or choruses; occasionally a lyrical passage is used, such as a distorted version of a few lines of the title track, and buried deep in the mix. Drums, organ, and guitar lines are chopped up and looped. From a musical standpoint, nothing really follows any traditional structure, which makes identifying particular selections difficult if you aren’t actively looking at the tracklist. Overall, the approach used is jarring, particularly given the accessibility relative sameness of the “Hallelujah” and “Jubilee” versions. But it also marks a refreshing departure that is sometimes cool, kind of unsettling at other moments, and beguiling throughout.

As a thought experiment and creative exercise, Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? is bold and fascinating. Because of that and the choice to balance repetition with an abrasive sonic detour, it’s sure to elicit a polarizing reaction from listeners expecting a more predictable bluegrass-country release. Taken as a whole, it confirms Childers’ burgeoning reputation for thoughtful, provocative work and his willingness to pursue his own muse without catering to audience expectations.

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