Hiss Golden Messenger: Heart Like a Levee review – rootsy and persuasive

When MC Taylor first attracted attention as Hiss Golden Messenger, he drew tentative comparisons with those titans of contemporary Americana, Bill Callahan and Will Oldham. He may not quite have hit those peaks yet, but his sixth full-length record is another collection of warm and rootsy songs and a persuasive bid for a place at alt-country’s top table. Taylor does not stray far from the sound of his vintage antecedents: Happy Day (Sister My Sister) has the languid swing of the Band, Like a Mirror Loves a Hammer feels like a classic cut of southern funk. But this is much more than an exercise in loving hommage, not least because his lyrics brim with personality and feeling.