Alabama’s native son, Early James, returns with his sophomore album, Strange Time To Be Alive. The lyrical wordsmith conjures the ghosts of great southern gothic writers from Eudora Welty to William Faulkner, while channeling the haunted spirits of Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt. The album evokes a timeless amalgam of forsaken blues, folk, and Tin Pan Alley crooning, anchored by his unmistakable voice that sways from gravel-filled shouts to pained, forlorn whispers. Brown Swirl LP. Softpak CD.