STAN RIDGWAY
Neon Mirage
Over 33 years, first with Wall of Voodoo and subsequently through a solo career full of darkly cinematic musings, retro jazz affectations and creepy film scores, Stan Ridgway hasn’t exactly made accessibility his raison d’être. But Neon Mirage is his most revealing effort yet, one that bares his torn psyche following the deaths of his father, his uncle and musical colleague Amy Farris. “Big Green Tree,” “Halfway There” and a somber cover of Dylan’s “Lenny Bruce” are steeped in reflection and resilience. Echoes of Ridgway’s eclecticism remain in the horn-drenched cacophony of “Desert of Dreams,” the whimsical “Wandering Star” and the Morricone-esque “Day Up in the Sun.” Neon Mirage is never less than illuminating.
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