SALVATION SONGS

ONCE IN A while, a recording enters the ears and strikes deep through the heart as natural, acoustic instruments channel profound life experience into musical art. Alain Johannes’ new album, Hum (Ipecac), has such an effect.

Though Johannes may not have an instantly recognizable name, many readers will be familiar with him from his performance and production work with Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, Eagles of Death Metal, Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, numerous film soundtracks and Eleven, the influential band he co-piloted with his wife, Natasha Shneider, who succumbed to cancer in 2008. Their contribution to Cornell’s 1999 solo debut, Euphoria Morning, cannot be overstated, and fans of that record will readily recognize Johannes’ musical and vocal sensibilities upon hearing Hum. He summoned Cornell and Shneider’s spirits for the haunting opening track, “Mermaid’s Scream.” “I kept hearing two voices in my head, which were Chris and Natasha,” Johannes says. “The reverse arpeggios I play represent the image of waves coming and crashing as I pictured a lighthouse scene.”