Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009

At a time when the LP format is being ditched for the digital single, Canadian singer-songwriter Jude Davison comes up with nothing less than a 15-song concept album about a traveling Mexican circus. Among its cast are characters like “Amphetamine Sam,” who possesses “switchblade eyes,” and lesbian lovers “Belle and Ophelia,” who find freedom under the big top. Such tales are told via Davison’s scratchy baritone and a panoply of instruments ranging from the guitar to the mandolin, dobro, tuba and banjo. Those who enjoy the atmospheric Americana of Tom Waits or the twangy Mexicana of Calexico would do well to check out Circo de Teatro, the 18th album from a performer whose most unusual claim to fame is having a song used on the hit TV show Baywatch.