It takes a certain amount of cool and credibility to recruit an all-star ensemble to contribute to your efforts, which makes it all the more impressive that on his fifth album to date, Dave Hause has managed to do just that. With Will Hoge sitting behind the board—and various members of the E Street Band and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, as well as players who have worked with Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile, Vince Gill, Sturgill Simpson and Eric Church in tow—Hause offers a set of songs fueled by the drive and dynamics needed to bring him the wider attention that he so decidedly deserves. Weaned on folk, punk and the disparate elements that often fall in between those styles, he’s now reached the point where he can find his focus. Not that he’s forsaken those earlier influences entirely— “Carry the Lantern,” “Surfboard” and “Sandy Sheets” all boast a resolve and resilience that suggest that he hasn’t totally abandoned his insurgent attitude. So too, the hushed circumstance surrounding “Snow-globe,” “Northstar” and “Leave It in That Dream” give pause for reflection and rumination. Many of these songs offer life lessons, mostly gleaned from his role as a father, husband and brother. He expresses that sentiment succinctly in the promise he shares with his sons, as nestled within the tender trappings of “Little Wings.” “Here’s what I’m not gonna teach you/ That you should be afraid to try/ Or if you aren’t good you’ll get a lump of coal or swim in fire when you die.” It is, in fact, part and parcel of Hause’s efforts to imbue affirmation and meaning into his music. As a result, the harmony alluded to in the title is certainly well assured.
