Kasey prepared this caramel cake for my birthday. It is smooth, sexy, buttery and celebratory. For this reason, Jeff Buckley’s posthumously released Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk is perfect pairing for this recipe. Buckley’s songwriting and amazing vocals are a perfect comparison for the way this cake tastes: sweet, smokey and caramel. Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk didn’t receive the same degree of critical acclaim as Buckley’s legendary first album, Grace, but the songs that compose this two disc collection are still stunning, complex and solid.
The first disc collects a number of tracks that Buckley recorded prior to his death while working with producer Tom Veraline. Buckley wasn’t quite satisfied with the results of these sessions, and took the album back the drawing board. The second disc, then collects a series of demos and unreleased tracks he had worked on outside of the Veraline sessions. Both discs are excellent. The track “Everyone Here Wants You” on the first disc is easily one of the sexiest songs ever written, featuring smokey, jazz-tinged rock and sultry lyrics as Buckley croons, “and our eyes locked in downcast love / I sit here proud / even now you are undressed in your dreams with me.” The upbeat tapping rhythm of “The Witches’ Rave” is fun and fantastic. The track “Nightmares By The Sea” appears on both discs and is grand, shimmering and driving in both incarnations. One of the most eye-archingly uncharacteristic cuts included in the collection is the roguishly, lecherous “Your Flesh Is So Nice” which draws upon fuzzed-out electric guitars as Buckley growls “I want to tell you a story / about a little cutey / she’s ass-slappin’ pretty.” “Jewel Box” is equally simple and sexy, and Jeff promises, “I’ll tell you secrets so good, you’ll never tell a soul.” This is a record that should be a pre-requisite for any collection. It is also one I suspect I’ll never find on vinyl (much to my dismay).
Jeff Buckley – Everybody Here Wants You
Jeff Buckley – When The Levee Breaks (Led Zepplin Cover)
Head back to eating/sf to read the recipe for this caramel cake.
