I had to go through hell to get here. There was a time, more than a decade ago, when his old band looked like it was going to be one of the defining bands of their generation, as much a classic pop touchstone as it was inventive and ambitious. Eventually, two members battled addiction and the group stalled. Since then, Christopher has dealt with homelessness, a serious motorcycle accident, and the death of former bandmate Chet “JR” White. He’s made solo albums before – weird, baroque, gospel-inflected pieces and slow, light-hearted pieces – but it was the Girls’ two records that showed him what he could do. Nothing quite captured the magic it proved. However, “I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair” is a completely different matter. Suddenly, spectacularly, he rediscovered compositional tools he had never noticed before, all at once. Stylistically, the album wanders, so you hear blissful guitar pop as the record’s backbone, as he demonstrated on early songs “Beautiful Horses” and “I Think About Heaven.” He then adds a psychedelic looseness to that blueprint with the gorgeous “I Know,” before leaning into country on “This Is My Guitar” and “Distant Drummer.” Finally, he plugs in and delivers an electric rendition of the handsome, reverb-laden “Two Words,” before the album ends with seven minutes of pure catharsis, “Do You Need A Friend.” The latter’s refrain, “If you really want to know/I’m just barely getting through the days,” is quite poignant given his recent history, but the song rings with an optimistic vibe, as if the storm is finally here. It’s the sound of passing. Christopher Owens emerged from there with potentially one of the best records of the year.
