Between 1997 and 2004, Chris Connelly made a handful of small recordings - Ultimate Seaside Companion, Blonde Exodus, Largo (with Bill Rieflin), Private Education - that stood outside virtually every scene and genre. These were elegant, poetic chamber pieces that captured various states of the human heart, whether in passion, delusion or somewhere in between. This was music that struggled to come together, and was held together musically while it lyrically fell apart, albeit as gracefully as a tragic character in a '60s French film would find his world collapsing around him. Like Scott Walker and Jackie Leven, Connelly didn't even consider what was going on around him. All of his music seemed to tunnel inside and bring out whatever was there, the pearls of wisdom or simply the blood, sand, dark matter to be found in the marrow. This series of albums culminated with 2004's brilliant collection of off-the wire pop songs Night of Your Life. On the Episodes, Connelly moves into a new phase. Working with Ben Vida and Tim Kinsella, Connelly keeps a largely acoustic vibe, but he's tossed the tight structures, languid, decadent textures, and airless spaces aside in favor of wide-open spaces that accent a kind of tribalism and willingness to let the elements themselves have a say in his proceedings. One track, in fact, InchSoul Boys/Hard LegendsInch was field recorded in a dark, cold Wisconsin forest at night. And there's a vibe here that feels free, cast off, if a bit sadder and more paranoid. Connelly's poetic lyrics cannot be denied, but this set's reliance on deep sounding percussion, repetitive melodic - or more monochromatic - fixtures such as a guitar strumming a single chord for long periods of time, atmospheric intrusions, and loose adherence to musical time gives the entire proceeding a kind of unhinged feel. While the opening cut possesses more beauty than anything