his writing, Berman thought highly of America although hoped for a "redemption". His artistic perception of America has been noted as idiosyncratic, narrow and poignant, while forlornness often arose as humor. Religion is a recurring element in Silver Jews albums, while Purple Mountains evokes Jewish mysticism. From Bright Flight onwards, his lyrics became more autobiographical, in a dramatic framework, and he came to view the preceding works as "make-believe"; on Tanglewood Numbers he documented his struggle with substance abuse. Roberts called Purple Mountains "nearly as autobiographical as a memoir". Berman discussed his isolation, divorce—Silver Jews songs about Cassie having been plentiful—and death, which had a particular presence. By this point, his music had less humor, misdirection, irony or embellishment; he was interested in being direct. On the Silver Jews albums, Berman represented his alienation via substitutes, his characters composed of traits originating from either real-life people, fictional characters or archetypes. His fictional narratives often start relatively straightforwardly and then become bizarre; the songs of American Water conjure an "absurdist landscape" and "grow more obtuse in proportion to tunefulness". His stories present a literary aesthetic that is "equal parts rural shack and gothic zen" and his characters often reside in "half-empty country-and-western bars and backwater burgs". Having found a wider audience with Actual Air, Berman's lyrics were held to a higher standard; and he has been praised for diverging from his peers. His lyrics have been credited as being influential for indie rock and other musicians. Pitchfork deemed him one of "the most influential" musicians of the quarter-century following the publication's launch in 1996. Sound Silver Jews' early work is defined by an ultra lo-fi aesthetic, starting as ostensibly "avant-gardist" within the framework of "traditional" pop songs. Their work before Starlite Walker is "regarded as the lowest fidelity recordings of the first lo-fi movement". The changing line-up influenced the sound, Berman's musical approach became simplified and the band moved further towards a country sound; Purple Mountains eschewed the previous punk rock strand. Purple Mountains is Berman's most direct, conventional album, said Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic, although all of Berman's discography is relatively conventional. Berman's vocal delivery has been identified as brusque, dry and mostly uninflected—his register was described as baritone and he would concurrently sing and speak. Reviewing Starlite Walker for The Guardian, Jonathan Romney described Berman's approach as "whiny, archetypally slackerish" with "vaguely country inflections"—the early country aspects being