North Star Deserter is a 2007

2007 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...

 album by Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnutt

James Victor "Vic" Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success didn't come until 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute album of mainstream artists...

. The backing musicians on the album are Guy Picciotto

Guy Picciotto

Guy Picciotto is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, and producer from Washington, DC.He is most widely known for his role as the guitarist and vocalist of Fugazi, as well as Rites of Spring.-Rites of Spring & Early Projects:...

 (guitarist and vocalist for the groups Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring was an American post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. in the mid-1980s, known for their energetic live performances. A part of the D.C. hardcore punk scene, Rites of Spring increased the frenetic violence and visceral passion of hardcore while simultaneously experimenting with...

 and Fugazi) and Canadian Post-rock

Post-rock

Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...

 band, A Silver Mt. Zion

A Silver Mt. Zion

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra are a Canadian band which formed in 1999, originating from Montreal, Quebec...

. It was released on Constellation Records

Constellation Records

Constellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...

 on August 27, 2007 (Europe), September 11, 2007 (rest of world)

Reception

Metacritic gave "North Star Deserter" a score of 77 (generally favorable reviews).
The music review online magazine

Online magazine

An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...

 Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 gave North Star Deserter a 7.6 stating:

Chesnutt's voice remains the most curious instrument on North Star Deserter: His creaky vocals and peculiar pronunciation (which can locate unknown syllables in common words) may have diminished slightly since his first few Texas Hotel albums, but he sounds ornery as ever on North Star Deserter. On "Glossolalia" he spits sharply alliterative b's and d's, matching them to the percussively plucked strings as if warning you to back off. And yet he draws you in: On "Splendid", he sings, "We came across an incomplete set of..." He pauses ominously to make you lean forward and listen for the next words. That sense of mystery has served Chesnutt well over the course of a bumpy seventeen-year career. "Can't say I didn't rattle the load," he sings on closer "Rattle", "but I'm keeping it on the road."

Track listing

All songs written by Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnutt

James Victor "Vic" Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success didn't come until 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute album of mainstream artists...

1. "Warm" – 3:00
2. "Glossolalia" – 3:32
3. "Everything I Say" – 6:53
4. "Wallace Stevens" – 2:17
5. "You Are Never Alone" – 5:42
6. "Fodder On Her Wings" – 3:12
7. "Splendid" – 8:29
8. "Rustic City Fathers" – 4:23
9. "Over" – 4:00
10. "Debriefing" – 8:27
11. "Marathon" – 5:34
12. "Rattle" – 1:29