Dijkema, Joost

***After the personal redemption and artistic triumph that was JOOST DIJKEM's debut album Sacred Revelations (2016), he returns with his second solo album Time Thief. On this colorful collection Dijkema explores the concept of time in relation to (sudden) loss, failure, anxiety, corrupted memories, love, strength, and the hope and insecurities relating to the near future through meandering and intense guitar explorations, hard hitting ballads, mutated yet groovy bluegrass, and lingering folk-rock. The dense instrumental opening salvo, 'We Came Across Pt. III' and 'Plastic Seawater' are undeniable and prepare you for the tour de force of the lengthy title song. The album closes with the atmospheric 'Galangal Tea with John,' a beautiful calm instrumental in which Joost is accompanied by lap steel guitar wizard John Hekert. The Finnish Heta Salkolahti is on board again to provide the album with graceful string arrangements and backing vocals. Dijkema might have an old soul for his tender age, but he’s currently pushing the boundaries of rootsy fingerstyle guitar with his own singular, super-intense and inspiriting guitar playing. This is grassroots guitar music for the past, present and future.