Jake Smith sings and writes under the name The White Buffalo. A supremely talented storyteller and singer, he's been singing in gritty bars since 2002, but since his songs have been featured on the show Son of Anarchy, he has begun to get more popular. Often with popularity comes a stagnation of ambition and creativity; however, with The White Buffalo's new outing Shadows, Greys & Evil Ways, his storytelling, guitar playing and singing have hit all-time highs.

Coming off of a great last album with Once Upon a Time in the West, a country/folk-tinged album that surprised me with its depth and maturity, hits an album full of completely new and hard-hitting material. While the last album was composed of separate stories and songs, Shadows, Greys & Evil Ways' songs are all interlaced and tell a unique story of Joe and Jolene, two kids who fall in love only to have their lives unravel in a realistically heartbreaking tale.

The title foreshadows the story that is to come as this album is about the haunting shadows of the broken, the greys faced in life, and the evil ways that people go about living.

However, the album begins on a happier note of two kids falling in love. Throughout the story you see the characters get older, and they almost begin to feel like real people. You see their evolution from innocent kids who believe in love as an idea of romance, to understanding that sacrifice is needed to maintain their relationship and lives. The sacrifice in this relationship is Joe's time and mental well-being, the songs ("Joey White," "30 Days Back") tell the harrowing tales of his time in war and the post-traumatic stress that he faces when he gets home. These songs had the greatest impact on me, and often I found this album could take an emotional toll on the listener. From then, the story takes a sad turn to focus on a broken man who seeks redemption only to betray and fall once again. The pain in the story stops being an abstract concept and gets taken on by the listener due to Smith's superb lyrics. It feels as though Jake Smith has lived this life and is now telling his story to the listener. The only thing that makes it more impressive is that he didn't.

With carefully chosen words and important themes, The White Buffalo delivers an amazing and harrowing album that is bound to attract all folk lovers, but also reel in fans of rocks. With a delivery similar to Eddie Vedder and Johnny Cash from his American Recording years, The White Buffalo holds onto his folk roots with beautiful acoustic work, and while the banjo isn't used as often as it was in the last album it is not missed. This album's sad tone received a great boost from some help from a violin section and made the songs "30 Days Back" and "Pray to You Now" much more powerful.

The underlying themes of redemption, the struggles of the wounded, God and idealized love are all touched upon and beautifully presented in this album. It surprised me because, after my first listen, I thought it was a mediocre outing, but with a deeper listening I learned that it is one of the best albums of 2013.