A frock-coated, Matrix-style movie star beholding a burning city before him, Jon Boden presents himself on the cover of Afterglow as the ambitious, genre-busting folk artist he’s always been. This is his second solo album about a post-apocalyptic world, after 2009’s Songs from the Floodplain. This time, he’s trying to find a lost lover in ruined streets under kerosene skies. The sturm-und-drang lyrics find an odd partner in the music, however, which largely wallows in a glossy, lovelorn Waterboys-style soundworld. This dilutes the urgency the story really needs; only the ragged guitars in Burning Streets, and the excellent penultimate track, Yellow Lights, driven by dark, low strings, offer that. Throughout, Boden also uses similar images and phrases, so the narrative appears to be circling like a whirlpool, rather than racing on. You can’t deny Afterglow’s big dreams, but it often feels somnolent, not superlative.
