CS Nielsen
Against the dying of the light
Songcrafter Music
Hands down, "Against the dying of the light" is one of the best albums of 2007. Stig Nielsen, oft referred to as 'Country Stig', does indeed emulate the late Johnny Cash, even using the familiar allusions to trains in numerous songs, but he does it so damned well that it feels like a fitting tribute to the Man in Black, an homage appropriate to the history, catalog, and accomplishments that made Cash who he was. Nielsen's lyrics are cultivated and adept, existing so effortlessly alongside his masterly crafted songs. "Bottle for the road" has numerous displays of his lyrical abilities: "Today I feel a chill of autumn coming 'round, leaves like angels are falling; today your memory cannot hold me in this town...", and the wonderful fragment, "I had too many cups of water that you never turned into wine..." from "Happy" shows the care that Nielsen put into every song. The standard that this record holds itself to is exceptionally high and none of the songs miss this demanding mark. Many artists have claimed Johnny Cash as one of their influences, but few have ever come so close to continuing the legacy he blazed across America in the 1960s and burned into the consciousness of the world. CS Nielsen still retains much of his individuality as a songwriter and an artist even while treading these familiar paths, and this facet of the music only augments his undertakings and illuminates "Against the dying of the light" even further. Absolutely brilliant.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
