Bob Dylan: Fallen Angels (2016)

The origins of Bob Dylan’s Fallen Angels stretch right back to the inaugural Farm Aid event on 22^nd September 1985, when Bob performed the popular standard ‘That Lucky Old Sun’ for the first time. Songs from the Tin Pan Alley-era are not what most people would associate with Bob Dylan, but since then his interest in old standards has only appeared to grow. He performed George Gershwin’s ‘Soon’ at a Gershwin tribute event in 1987, sang ‘Answer Me, My Love’ at the 1991 Guitar Legends event, and in 2001 recorded the Dean Martin-sung ‘Return to Me’ for the soundtrack of The Sopranos. That same year Dylan released the album Love and Theft, on which tracks like ‘Bye and Bye’ and ‘Moonlight’ represented his first foray into self-penned jazz balladry. With all of this in mind, it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Bob Dylan released his first collection of standards, Shadows in the Night, in 2015.

I initially wasn’t very keen on Shadows in the Night (although I am now), and for this reason I approached Fallen Angels with caution, afraid that it would be more of the same. What I should have remembered, looking back, is that Bob Dylan never – ever – does the same thing the same way twice. No album of his, for better or worse, has ever been a total re-tread of a previous one, and Fallen Angels is no exception.

Bob kicks things of with an affecting rendition of ‘Young at Heart’, which sets the tone for the rest of the album. It has the laid back feel of a lazy summer afternoon; warm and inviting, a sharp contrast to the nighttime atmosphere of the previous album. All of the songs have the same general effect, but I think my favourite would be ‘Polka dots and Moonbeams’, which has a lovely instrumental intro that gives Dylan’s band a chance to shine. While Shadows in the Night  featured Donnie Herron’s pedal steel as the lead instrument, the sound here is much more varied, and we are treated to pleasant passages of violin and guitar.

Bob doesn’t contribute instrumentally on this album, but Fallen Angels does continue the remarkable recovery of Dylan’s voice, which a few short years ago looked to be ravaged beyond repair. I'm not sure how Bob has managed to recapture so much of his old range, but the main thing is that he is stretching himself again, and that’s good.

So what’s next for Bob Dylan? At this point in a career filled with the unexpected, it's truly impossible to guess. Bob holds all the cards, and he's keeping them close to his chest.