It is said about some albums that they sound like the soundtrack to a film that has yet to be shot. In the case of Jesse Tabish's solo debut, there's real truth to that phrase.

Because "Cowboy Ballads Part 1" already refers to the epic western of US cinema in the title. And for the 14 songs and instrumentals, the description "cinematic" was practically invented.

As the frontman and creative head of Other Lives, Tabish has already proven that he has a soft spot for lush arrangements and songs with big melodies. Formed almost 20 years ago in the US state of Oklahoma, this band successfully fills a niche between Calexico, The National and Fleet Foxes. Her dignified, harmonious folk rock was fully formulated on the most recent albums "Rituals" (2015) and "For Their Love" (2020).

Together with his wife Kim - who is now a member of Other Lives himself - Jesse Tabish has now successfully composed an excellent, homogeneous album that is based on soundtrack masters such as Ennio Morricone or Henry Mancini. The pandemic and the associated temporary separation from the band also played their part in the melancholic cowboy ballads: "I was in the mood to stay at home and just paint with sound," his label PIAS quotes him as saying. "We were free to explore in this quiet place."

It's no coincidence that the results are often reminiscent of the music of (Italo) Westerns - the singer with the sonorous, pleasantly dark voice "always had an affinity" for that. The Tabishs layer baritone guitar, organ, rattling percussion, castanets and timpani, strings (from the keyboard), choirs and harmonica into a voluptuous sound that conjures up cinemascope images of deserts, rocks, canyons and lonely riders in your head.

Such sound paintings can hardly be made better. Indie folk fans can look forward to "Cowboy Ballads Part 2".