Since the way that time plays tricks is a major theme in Rustin Man's music, perhaps it's not surprising that the project's releases have appeared so unpredictably. After nearly two decades of silence, Paul Webb delivered not just one but two fascinating albums within a year of each other. Recorded at the same time as 2019's elegant Drift Code, Clockdust leans into that album's antiqued, lived-in feeling and takes it in its own intriguing directions. Webb swirls together hints of folk, jazz, psych-pop, electronic music, and soft rock on subtly poignant songs that float like motes of time in worlds of their own. On the beautifully tarnished "Gold & Tinsel," when he sings of a "dusty old bandstand/filled with new guitars/waiting to misbehave/waiting to take your place" in his wonderfully weathered voice, he takes his listeners on a nuanced emotional journey with just a handful of lines. Throughout Clockdust, Webb's approach feels truly timeless. "Man with a Remedy," an acerbic sketch of a snake-oil salesman that cleverly pits optimistic words against dour sounds, is just as apt in the 21st century as it would have been many years before. Similarly, "Love Turns Her On" pairs stormy psych guitar outbursts with bitter heartache befitting film noir. Indeed, vintage films were one of Webb's major inspirations on Clockdust's faded, almost forgotten glamour. "Jackie's Room" paints a picture of an aging beauty lost in fantasies of her youth that evokes Sunset Boulevard, while the surreal torch song "Old Flamingo" shuffles softly before taking flight on an extended trumpet solo. Webb deepens this vibe on "Rubicon Song"; filled with striking instrumentation like marimba, melodica, and reed organ, it's a bewitching instrumental that feels like a score waiting for a scene. Here and on the dub-inflected panorama "Night in the Evening," Webb's experimental side is vital to his remarkable ability to create a mood. He's in a league of his own when it comes to making the most of music's time-traveling, spell-casting powers, and like Drift Code before it, Clockdust proves that Rustin Man's music has only grown richer and more rewarding over the years. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

1		Carousel Days
2		Gold & Tinsel
3		Jackie's Room
4		Love Turns Her On
5		Rubicon Song
6		Old Flamingo
7		Kinky Living
8		Night in Evening City
9		Man With a Remedy

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