Greazy Alice Just Another One Loose
In advance of their debut album, this four-track EP serves as an introduction to Greazy Alice, featuring New Orleans' Alex Pianovich, backing vocalist Jo Morris, and, for these recordings, Will Repholz on bass and Austen Hellman on drums.
Difficult to categorise - think somewhere between Mark Lanegan/Isobel Campbell, and Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra – the band took its name from a working girl characterised in Terry Allen’s 1975 album, JUAREZ.
The title track, which opens with atmospheric spoken word by Pianovich before he is joined in full voice by the silver-voiced Morris, was inspired by a scene from the movie Casablanca. Woozy and spellbinding, the seven-and-a-half-minute-long Flag Day is a slow-burning gem that recalls the lo-fi panache of David Berman and Bill Callahan.
With a playful sensibility running through it and in complete contrast, Stop Asking Why is a countryfied delight and the fourth inclusion, Departures, is an acoustic, prayer-like affair.
With an eagle eye for unearthing left-of-centre talent, Loose discovered the band on a talent-finding mission to New Orleans a few years ago. This medley of songs is more than enough to whet the appetite for what is to come down the road from Greazy Alice. Well worth your attention.
Declan Culliton
Brennen Leigh Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love Signature
It’s not an overstatement to describe Fargo, Dakota-born Brennen Leigh as one of the most consistent flag carriers for hardcore country music over the past few decades. She may not have achieved anything like the colossal sales that numerous female pop/country crossover artists have. Still, she has steadfastly ignored industry trends that support soap-opera type artists peddling bland pop music masquerading as ‘country.’
The past six years have found Leigh at her most prolific. As well as this latest album, she has recorded three others, AIN’T THROUGH HONKY TONKIN’ YET (2023), OBSESSED WITH THE WEST (2022) and PRAIRIE LOVE LETTER, the latter was album of the year at Lonesome Highway in 2020. This latest addition encompasses all the key elements of its predecessors: clever, hard-hitting and witty lyrics, as well as masterful flatpicking, presented in Leigh’s perfectly punctuated vocals.
Having focused on honky tonk and Western swing on her two previous records, DON’T YOU EVER GIVE UP ON LOVE ticks the ‘old-time’ and country and western boxes, while also including some rowdy barroom songs. Recorded at Wolfe Island Recording Co. in Dayton, Texas, the players that contributed to this twelve-track record included Kevin Skrla, who produced the album and whose standout pedal steel playing is a recurring feature, Damian O’Grady (piano), Dave Biller (electric guitar), Josh Hoag (upright bass), Jason Baczynski and Matty Meyer (drums) and Katie Shore (fiddle).
The title track is a co-write with Elijah Ocean, who had commenced writing the song with Leigh in mind. Without hesitation, Leigh got on board to complete the song, which eventually fashioned the album’s core theme of ‘love and lost love.’ A comparison with Loretta Lynn may be a lazy observation, but songs like Dumpster Diving and Tell Me mirror Lynn’s ‘iron fist’ and ‘tell it as it is’ attitude. Leigh’s enthusiasm for co-writing and her capacity to pen songs with others that sound like they have been around forever yielded several standout tracks. Thank God You’re Gone and Texas Tumbleweed, both written with ‘new kid on the block’ singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alex Miller, are cases in point, as is the jokey Nothing You Can Fix, credited as a co-write with Mary Bragg.
A classic country album wouldn’t be complete without a ‘drinking’ song, and A Reason To Drink (‘One of my favourite topics in country & western music is alcoholic denial and shame,’ admits Leigh) connects the alcoholic scorned lover and other woman in a tale that was never going to have a happy ending for any of the parties. By way of contrast, I’m Easy To Love After All is a tender, waltz-like, love ballad.
The combination of Brennen Leigh and Kevin Skrla, two die-hard hardcore country artists and scholars, has brought into play all the essential components that contribute to a classic country and western album. Twangy vocals, lots of weepy pedal steel guitar, delicate fiddle playing and impressive stories all feed into a lovely listening experience from start to finish.
Declan Culliton
Nicki Bluhm Rancho Deluxe Little Sur
San Francisco native, currently living in Nashville, Nicki Bluhm’s latest recording, RANCHO DELUXE, is her eighth studio album and follows on from her 2023 album, THE BEAT GOES ON, which was a tribute to Cher.
Named after the home studio that she created with her producer and co-writer Jesse Noah Wilson, the album was completed over five days and squarely reflects Bluhm’s globetrotting musical career over the past two decades. Her West Coast leanings are never too far from the surface, and she also shifts confidently between folk-rock and soul.
The ten tracks play out like individual chapters of those past years. By way of a preamble for what is to follow, Bay Laurel Leaves opens the album with the protagonist in desperate straits and seeking refuge (‘I won’t say that I was running, but I just couldn’t stay. All the songs that I was singing, like a bird inside a cage’). Falling Out Of Dreams follows with a favourable resolution that signals the beginning of a journey that ultimately has a happy ending. We hear of inner strength and survival in Keep On Growing and more playful memories in Cumberland Banks, even if the latter could have ended poorly, as a canoe trip down the Cumberland River ended up as a survival challenge.
One of many standout tracks, Tumbleweed showcases cosmic Americana at its finest, with woozy guitar breaks that dance from speaker to speaker. It’s equalled by the spacey Change The Channel, which, at five and a half minutes, is the album’s longest track. A co-write with Leslie Stephens - check out her killer album SINNERS and her self-titled record - it’s the album’s knockout track for me, Bluhm’s fluid and unhurried vocals, a feature throughout the record, particularly excel here.
If uncertainty and anxiety raise their head in Taking Chances, the mood lightens in the final track, Long Time To Make Old Friends, signing off on a high note. With the vocals shared with Bluhm’s neighbour, Dillon Warnek, it’s the final chapter in an autobiographical story that, having arrived in Nashville from California in 2017, freshly divorced and with a shattered career, signals a happy and well-deserved ending for Bluhm.
Declan Culliton
John Francis O’Mara Forbidden Hymns Self-Release
With that name and album title, it is, perhaps, no surprise that O’Mara’s writing has some religious overtones within its titles and lyrics. He is an ordained Episcopalian priest and is pursuing further studies towards a doctorate in theology. However, that is not the totally defining aspect of what’s on offer here. He writes songs that can stand up in the overall framework of what an album and set of songs should do, which is to make the listener want to listen—and listen well.
Ken Coomer produced the album and has some sterling players, the most notable being bass player Dave Roe, who sadly passed away back in 2023. This indicates that some of the recordings here took place some time ago. Which, in itself, is not a problem, as it often takes time these days to prepare a physical or downloadable release option. Alongside Roe, there are notable performances in the studio from Kenny Vaughan, Chris Scruggs, John Lancaster and backing vocalist (a role that can often mean more than it might imply) Vinchelle Woods. John Carter Cash adds his voice to a song that he co-wrote for the album.
Opening with the echoes of confusion and concern that is Walking In Babylon, a wry look at a world that is turned upside down and inside out. It is a blend of roots Americana with strong spiritual and humanist overtones. The song Lately Mary has a sense of rumination about a special person. Jesus Walked On Water asks the question: if Jesus could walk on water, why can’t I? So, belief is one of the central motifs that O’Mara employs through these songs, which reflect his own journey and faith. That song has a more meditative arrangement, as do several of the tracks; this contrasts with songs that have a more up-tempo and upfront approach, as in Ashes Ashes, which highlights the diversity and simple listening ability inherent throughout.
Of course, some of these tunes have an immediate impact on this listener, and one of them is Maria, I Would Dance With You But My Hands Are On Fire. I won’t pretend to decipher its meaning, but the overall effect is powerful. There is some layering of soul (of different sorts) in another memorable track, Miracle. In truth, there is a lot of material that has the potential to leave a lasting impression after playing. A lyric sheet might have helped in better understanding some of the words, but that doesn’t happen too often with review downloads. However, it is easy to decipher enough of the overall content to acknowledge the assurance and skill involved here. O’Mara’s deep conviction and quintessence are very apparent in Might Power a song that may have fitted the repertoire of a couple of iconic Irish bands. It's a title that could just as easily sum up the feeling that the album delivers. The final song Let It Be So is again one that I see a resonance with the aforementioned Celtic spirituality, as well as with faith in the broader sense.
Coomer and the assembled players have created an album that I found delivered on several levels, especially for a singer/songwriter I hadn’t encountered before. This is a testament that O’Mara’s need to make music goes beyond fame and money. In that light, I sense a similarity to the music of Michael McDermott. Another artist who puts his heart and soul into his work, rather than just seeking monetary recompense and fleeting fame, as the overriding need to create and deliver his music.
It’s always something of a very pleasant surprise when a newly discovered artist brings something that musically resonates with you (which of course is in itself a variable feast). These “hymns” are not a forbidden pleasure but a simple assurance that when music is born of a positive conviction, it will be apparent as it is here.
Stephen Rapid
Paul Burch Cry Love Glider
After releasing ten previous albums under his own name since 1996, Paul Burch has most definitely established his vision, which can now be easily classified, even though consistent elements from earlier times are immersed in the music. Above that, Burch has developed a recognisable vocal style that is wholly suited to the delivery of his own songwriting. This has been accomplished on many occasions by the accompaniment of his WPA Ballclub bandmates, both live and in the studio. In this case, founder members Dennis Crouch and Fats Kaplin join him at the production desk, along with noted guitar player Richard Bennett (all of whom, when listed in an album’s credits, should warrant further inspection).
Burch has also just published his debut novel, Meridian Rising, which is a fictional account of the rise of singer Jimmie Rodgers - a singer who has been a major influence on Burch’s own work as an innovative, contemporary roots player. A deep love of a style and epoch that drove him to play it live in the then somewhat rundown environs of Lower Broadway in a residency at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge (along with acts such as Greg Garing and BR549). Burch continues to play shows in intimate clubs, often with guests and without the safety net of a set list.
As perhaps is fitting, given the album’s title, these are largely songs that relate to the perennial topic of relationships. The album's opening track is titled Glencoe and is about a town in Oklahoma rather than the area in Scotland. But it is a welcoming introduction to this upbeat album. Burch can add that rockin’ beat when required, as in One If By Land, which has echoes of his Buddy Holly tribute album (WORDS OF LOVE). Also, an up-tempo treat is Radio Gal, which is a twangy notification that the lady in question is “coming tonight.” The title track equates the need for help with a call to a suitable practitioner, such as a fireman for a fire or a waterman for a flood. However, when it comes to love, you need help from a very different source, and that is to ‘cry love.’ The Fat Man has a sound that goes back decades to a pre-Hank Williams time. Similarly, I Won’t Miss My Baby Anymore finds him in that time-honoured treatise that you won’t miss your baby until sugar is no longer sweet or any other similar metaphor.
Trying to make a liaison move forward to a better place is outlined in Close To Love, which has a short and sweet arrangement that is bettered by its brevity. Something he knows that he needs to explore more is the need for the kind of dynamic that is Chemistry. A little tougher with its strident bluesy guitar is Braggin. Not stepping out on your partner is a promise sought in Step’ Out. This has Fats Kaplan’s gypsy style fiddle employed to give it its overall feel. Don’t Forget To Come Back Home is a gentle call to do just that. A more soulful space is explored in the instrumental keyboard-led Rice Pudding. An old-time prewar honky-tonk feel, again keyboard-led, permeates the closing instrumental Jitterbug Waltz.
This is an album that will delight Burch fans and those who want to explore the roots of pre and primeval rock ’n’ roll and how it fits into the current musical landscape. It is a recording delivered by a skilled team of players who are led by Burch’s innate understanding of that era and beyond. A melting pot of ideas and their fundamental basis and how to place them in the here and now. This is music from the heart, to be played in intimate, smaller venues rather than larger arenas. It also sounds totally convincing in its organic recorded state here. What’s not to love.
Stephen Rapid
Rhett Miller A Lifetime Of Riding By Night ATO
This finds the two Old 97 bandmates working together for the first time in quite some time. This has a folk-pop feel that is quite different from their work in that seminal band. In some ways, its more generic and relaxed approach is comparable to Murray Hammond’s recent solo album release. They share the bulk of the instruments featured and are joined by Faith Shippey on bowed upright bass, Annie Crawford’s harmonium and percussionist Richard Hewett. This combination offers a thoughtful ambience that reflects on the passage of time and, as you get older, what matters most to you.
A Little Song starts proceedings by stating that he has a “little tune he could hum to turn back time to all our better days and nights … I found a pretty way to sing … a little song to make you stay.” The lyrics seem to be a heartfelt appeal to try to save a faltering relationship. This is followed by another statement about how everything he does is for one sole purpose. All For You then sums up the process of deciding priorities. From then on, there are another eleven tracks that are reaffirmations of love and hope. The opening track A Little Song also appears twice more in other iterations of that hopeful appeal. There are moments of great solidarity throughout, where the music highlights Miller’s prowess in bringing something deeper to his vocal delivery, which is a vital component of this process. Being, perhaps, more apparent here, in this context, than on the Old 97s releases.
Come As You Are has a memorable chorus, with Evan Felker (of Turnpike Troubadours) joining in, adding to the overall effectiveness of the track. Felker also has some co-writer credits here, too, as do a number of other co-writers that include Nicole Atkins and Caitlin Rose, as well as Jesse Valenzuela and Ben Greenman. The latter cowrote the song People Are Lifted that illustrates the vision and deftness of the writing with line such as “I’ve been able to think on the things that I’ve seen / I watched as they happened I don’t know what they mean / I have tried to make sense through patience and prayer / Of the bodies on earth rising into the air.”
The reflection on a life lived in music, and how it creates and also can destroy, is paraphrased in the lines from the title track: “A lifetime of riding by night / Turns out it pays no dividends / Except in loneliness that never ends.” However, that likely doesn’t paint the complete picture of where he was and where he is now. This album demonstrates that there is still life and music in Miller. He’s not done, and while this dwells on some of those darker moments, it is full of light in a way that these songs are produced. The fact that the album closes with the song Brand New Heart, which, despite its pessimistic perspective, still sees possibilities for better things ahead. “What a sight for these sore eyes to see / Such a pretty face and so familiar to me / I wish that I could tell you that I’ve loved you from the start / What I need is a brand new heart.”
These are more than a number of ‘little songs,’ which represent a point of reflection on the past and a hope for the future that are captured in a way that is open to interpretation and the understanding of the way this is, in itself, musically, a body of work that will enhance a long standing career as a member of the Old 97s and as a solo artist who can explore other aspects and ways to create music that has the power to illuminate how ones vie can change (for the better) over time.
Stephen Rapid
The Equatorial Group Sunseeker Self Release
Album number four from a band that deliver the most superb sounds in displaying their collective talents from Eastbourne, a beautiful seaside town on the south coast of England. It looks an idyllic place to live, with a rich history and a cultural oasis of art galleries and music. Any wonder that the five-piece band are reluctant to tour extensively outside the immediate area. This of course simply adds to their mystery, and there is a charming sense of magic dust that sprinkles their gorgeous melodies and laid-back, lush sound.
The group consists of Neil Grimes (drums, vocals), Dave Davies (guitars, vocals), Helen Weeks (guitar, pedal steel, vocals), Andy Tourle (bass, vocals), and Teresa ‘Twe’ Fox (keyboards, vocals). They gel together in such a sweet seductive sway across these twelve tracks, recorded live over just five days, and capture the moment of all five members in one room at Brighton Road Recording Studios, Sussex, with producer Ali Gavan at the helm. The results are absolutely charming.
Opening track Some Small Nature deals with relationship aftermath and the opening lines declare ‘There was a fine line between us, Our edges barely met, More blur than definition.’ And this in a way defines the rest of the album, with tales of relationship challenges from various perspectives, all wrapped in rich melody and lovely harmonies, the songs are quite superb in their creation and delivery.
Difference touches on decisions taken and the fragile nature of compromise ‘I’ll lose again this week, It hurts to borrow you, And our threadbare memories.’ Can memory really be trusted if it only reflects a subjective recall? The song 400 refers to album collections and living in high rise buildings. Another relationship in flux, perhaps likening life to splendid isolation ‘It’s been a strange time, Can I face another rebuild? When we're still learning to let go.’
The title track Sunseeker captures the separation of leaving and the freedom of travel to foreign places, the letting go of routine ‘Sunseeker, She thought you’d never leave her.’ Another song Giants expresses an urge to look outside for inspiration, instead of internal focus for the strength needed to effect changes ‘Passenger blues, Essential escape, Over the wild grey brine, away.’
It’s almost as if the protagonists in these songs are searching for varying degrees of self-awareness, something that comes slowly, if at all. And the subject of change also threads through the songs, like on That Is True which looks at tangled feelings ‘And I can’t fight the way that is true, All this time we are here and so blue, But I don’t wanna be loved by you, I will change your mind.’
So High deals with disappointment and the way in which we can’t afford to rely on others ‘You fell in love on Friday, But not with me, I’m drifting off now, all at sea.’ The standout Missouri Boy references an untimely death, with the passing a cause for much reflection ‘Suffocating home, I miss you, This shit’s so black and white, I could’ve turned my back, you know, I fear the living not the dead.’
The CD has an additional four songs that don’t appear on the vinyl, and Cold Amongst Cold looks at separation in a relationship ‘As close as you are, You’re never here, we’re so much more together when we’re apart,’ with atmospheric keyboard sounds highlighting the sense of unease and angry guitar chords driving home the grip of isolation. Lester is a track that reflects family dynamics with colourful playing from the ensemble ‘Mama always says that Lester’s right.’ Couldn’t Help Myself soars with a fine arrangement and a message of love gone wrong again.
Helen Weeks has a lovely vocal tone and her pedal steel playing adds great colour to these songs, along with the inventive guitar of Dave Davies, throughout. Helen sings lead on eight of the tracks with Dave singing the remaining songs, ably supported by the great rhythm section of Neil Grimes and Andy Tourle, consistently adventurous in their playing, and the superb keyboards of Teresa Fox adding layers of vibrant resonance; perfectly illustrated on Wrong Song where everything comes together in a heady mix of sweet, soaring sound. These songs build, gently suggesting, whispering in your ear, seducing you with their power. They are the embodiment of an Anglicana soundscape, rooted in subtle melody and taking flight with the superb musicianship. A strong contender for album of the year.
Paul McGee
Zandi Holup Wildflower Big Loud
This debut album from Zandi Holup throws up many pleasant surprises in the quality of songwriting and delivery. Born in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, Holup had always been drawn to write songs and to use the songwriting vehicle as a way to express her inner feelings. After moving to Nashville and facing a lot of initial negativity to her music as being “too dark,” she focused on her social media platforms and found that there was a strong audience out there who wanted the honest self -analysis and the bare-all approach that her songwriting highlights with a genuine vulnerability.
Coming out of self denial and into acceptance is hard, and feeling the pain of the past is one important way of letting it go. All That’s Left Is Me tackles this issue and the lyrics reflect ‘Stripped away my vices, threw my crutches on the floor, Now I can't hide behind what used to numb me anymore.’ Elsewhere, striking out for independence has the girl in Dirty Wings looking for redemption in acceptance of mistakes made ‘Fled the nest at seventeen, lived on dreams and gasoline, Broke down on the dark side of the moon.’
Relationship challenges on Go Find Less are always going to test a sense of self-worth and whether looking for self-esteem through another person is healthy ‘If I was a bit more insecure, Then I'd be what you're looking for, If I'm too much to handle, there's the door.’ On Wildflower the need to strike out for independence runs through the words ‘You can find me growing with the weeds, my long hair blowing in the breeze, Forever young, forever free, God broke the mold when he made me.’
Some people question the need for too much honesty in writing songs from personal experience. However, there is a strength in such vulnerability and whether the themes that thread these songs together are seen as self-indulgent or just fragments of emotions, and fleeting moments, there is a resonance that echoes. Holup writes so well about relationships in all of their messy ways and her insight comes from both personal experience and from imaginings of what transpires between couples.
Gas Station Flowers paints a picture of someone devoid of confidence and looking for the approval of another to define her sense of well-being ‘ I'd rather go through hell than let you go, 'Cause those gas station flowers are better than being alone.’ Memories of Dolly Parton early on in her fledgling career come to mind as she sung often about being the girl wronged, and there is a similarity in the vocal of Holup as she pleads for recognition in an abusive relationship. Dolly is there again in the spirit of Runs In the Family and the abuses that can define a young life ‘‘The hitting and cheating, The quitting and the leaving, The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, I guess it runs in the family,’ and elsewhere ‘generation to generation, same old shit, new iteration.’ Part of escaping abuse is the need to break free from what can follow you into future experiences, like you can never escape the ties that bind.
Love hurts on Doing the Time where an old relationship stings and it feels just like a prison sentence in waiting for the upset to subside ‘You're out on the run, knowing you did the crime, Free as a bird while I'm doing the time.’ The girl on Cowgirls Don’t Cry is prepared to toughen up and face the stings of romance with a resigned strength - an antidote of sorts where the cure is to ‘Get back in the saddle and wish him goodbye.’
Mountain Man has the picture of what rugged self-belief is imagined to be ‘Soon as I reach out to pull him in close, The voice in the woods calls him to come home.’ The tale of addiction on Mary Jane is one that repeats across any number of townships where adolescents seek identity through peer pressure to follow a road that often leads to self-destruction ‘She got him to grow up fast, that innocence you don't get back, The way he saw the world started to change, Felt so good when she was around, but every up took him further down, And he ain't ever really been the same since Mary Jane.’
The final song Things I’ll Never Forget is another look at the marks left by childhood disappointment and a parent who cannot show a guiding hand to a child ‘You're saying that you love me, but not enough to quit, All the things you don't remember are the things I'll never forget.’ At the core of these songs is a very talented songwriter who is expressing emotions that are universal and that resonate with many of the listeners who have already bought into the hard-earned wisdom of this artist. A quietly superb debut.
Paul McGee
Goldpine Three Self Release
Duo Ben and Kassie Wilson are a husband and wife team who met in church and produce a soulful Americana sound with harmony vocals that really impress. Currently based in Nashville and spending a large part of their time touring on the road in their camper van as full time travelling musicians, this third album was recorded in a live environment with their impressive talents separating this duo out from the pack in the strong songs and the vocal prowess of Kassie.
Alabama Born kicks everything off in fine style with a song about growing up in a difficult family situation, but not letting it define you. Kassie moved to Nashville at the age of nineteen to pursue her dreams and the lyric speaks of her early childhood and her mother ‘She wore the wedding band of a man with a heavy hand,’ and elsewhere ‘I don’t carry his name but I feel his blood inside my veins.’
Confessions has a fine rootsy arrangement with harmonica, guitar and handclaps joining together to bring a sense of urgency to the arrangement ‘Hey my name is Jack and I think that I may have a problem.’ The song deals with drug addiction. The blues of Understand is another vehicle for the expressive vocals of Kassie and her husband Ben joins in attesting to the power of love as the song arrangement burns with an understated passion. Another song Love Is carries a message of always being there to support a lover through the slings and arrows of relationships.
Kassie plays harmonica and tambourine while also channelling keyboard and drum sounds through a MIDI pad. Ben handles suitcase percussion in addition to playing dynamic guitar atmospherics that lift the songs great heights. This duo have a great live sound that is both vibrant and compelling.
Lean Into the Turns features Radney Foster on vocals and carries a warning of the twisted path of love ‘We could fight about how we feel, but down the road we’re all made real, hold on and lean into the turns.’ Down the Line is a song that reflects on living life in a state of sleepwalking and missing all the signs that point to being in the present moment and effecting necessary changes ‘I can just never see it coming, The way that I let it slip through my hands ain’t funny.’ The song Space dreams of travelling into the galaxy and seeking a place where love endures for all time, the close harmonies again proving a highpoint, along with some tasty guitar lines.
The acoustic rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner is stripped back in the arrangement which allows the focus to centre on the vocal prowess of both Ben and Kassie, before the final song Stumbling Stone brings a healing balm to the listening experience with a powerful singing performance that glories in a higher presence and reflects the power of the voice in song. A really enjoyable album and it comes highly recommended. Songs from the heart.
Paul McGee