amazon.de:
25 Jahre nach seinem Debüt präsentiert Tom Russell sein neuestes und bisher persönlichstes Album. Der perfekte Geschichtenerzähler hat einen zeitgnössischen Schwung in seine Musik auf diesem Album gebracht und instrumentell wurde er dabei von Calexico unterstützt. Gretchen Peters lieferte bei sieben Tracks die Hintergrund-Vocals. Auf seinem neuesten Werk entblößt Russell seine Seele und schildert uns lebhafter als je zuvor seine Weltansicht. Das Ergebnis ist, dass „Blood And Candle Smoke“ sein bisher stärkstes Album ist.

Tom Russels Kompositionen wurden übrigens von Größen wie Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Ramblin´Jack Elliott oder Dave Alvin gecovered. Fans von Country, Folk und Rock dürfen sich jetzt schon freuen!

amazon.com:
With a career stretching back nearly four decades, and a catalog of more than 20 albums, Tom Russell is already considered one of the great singer/songwriters of our time. But his newest album, Blood and Candle Smoke, recorded in Tucson with members of the indie-rock band Calexico, takes his work to another level entirely with tremendous songwriting and a new, contemporary spark. The consummate storyteller, Russell has amassed a devoted following that cherishes his vivid, novelistic tales evoking the spirit of the American experience in tightly constructed, panoramic vignettes. Among his most ardent fans are fellow artists Johnny Cash, Doug Sahm, k.d. lang, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Iris Dement, Dave Alvin, Joe Ely, Ian Tyson, Nanci Griffith, and Guy Clark have all recorded Tom's songs. Produced by Tom Russell and Craig Schumacher (Neko Case, Iron & Wine, Calexico).

pastemagazin.com:
The halls of Americana are crowded to capacity with artists like Tom Russell, whose songwriting prowess gained him notoriety long before his performances ever did. Johnny Cash, Guy Clark, Doug Sahm, Dave Alvin and k.d. lang are but a few of the high-profile singer/songwriters whose catalogs include a Russell original (the man has been at it for nearly four decades, after all).

On Russell’s latest, Blood and Candle Smoke, he combines forces with Tucson’s Calexico to produce a work of considerable power. His voice is raw and ragged but ultimately right, running the gamut from Tom Waits-like barroom bawling (the diary entry recalling the first time he heard Nina Simone) to songs reminiscent of Cash’s most anguished moments (the haunting and evocative Native American essay “Crosses of San Carlos,”) and even the occasional Gram/Emmylou throwback (“Santa Ana Wind,” inspired by Joan Didion’s essay “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream,” finds Russell paired with Gretchen Peters to terrific effect). It’s not a game-changer, career-wise—Russell doesn’t need one—but it’s perhaps a work that will gain him the broader recognition he has long deserved.