As promised here is the second installment of my attempt to tell you about all the good stuff I’ve heard recently. Part 3 will show up middle of the week…
Pete Gow – Where Else Would we be Going? (Single)
The brass arrangement jumps out from the first bar of this song. Rather than a typical small soul horn section there must be most of a brass band playing here. The brass lines that punctuate the verses are somewhere between a Mariachi Band and Count Basie but never overwhelm the song which is strong enough to benefit from the big arrangement. This is a taster for an album ‘Leo’ due out on 22nd April. On the basis of this single that must now be stamped “much anticipated.”
Preorder the album on Bandcamp
John Calvin Abney – Full Moon Friend (Single)
A more relaxed acoustic guitar-based song. Playing this on a Sunday afternoon feels like the right way to hear this. The guitar arpeggio that drifts through the song and the electric piano deep in the mix give this a slightly country soul feel. John Calvin Abney has been busy since his album debut in 2014 and this is his second single this year, both to be found on a new album to be called Tourist. The firsts single ‘Holy Golden West’ is as good as ‘Full Moon Friend.’ This sort of sound is in vogue this year with The Delines brilliant album pointing the way. There are bits of Grateful Dead, and a general mid 70s vibe to his music. The album is out 8th August and is also on my looking forward to list…
Buy JCAs music at Bandcamp and learn more about him at his website. I just became a fan…
Jesper Lindell – Twilights (album)
The press for ‘Twilights’ tells us that it; is a compelling mix of blue-eyed soul and down to earth classic rock, evolving from the heavily soul influenced debut album “Everyday Dreams” to create a timeless sound. Inspired by legends like The Band and Van Morrison.”
There is definitely plenty of The Band on the album including an appearance by Levon’s daughter Amy Helm on the country flavoured ballad ‘Twilight.’ As I mentioned earlier country soul is in this year and Jesper Lindell has turned in a fine contribution. ‘White Lines’ with its gospel organ behind the Stax brass sound is one of the highlights. Jesper Lindell is Swedish and currently on tour there. The lineup of his band includes Jimmy Reimers who contributes guitars, violin, trumpet, and French horn. That slightly eclectic mix of sounds is what makes ‘Twilights.’ ‘Nights Like These’ with a 60s tremolo guitar and Clavinet, and ‘If thee comes a Time’ that builds form a simple guitar to include strings and brass. This afternoon’s favourite is opener ‘Westcoast Rain.’ This is the song that is closest to The Band and shows off Lindell’s bluesy voice nicely. He does have a touch of Van Morrison to his singing but more of Muscle Shoals. He is on tour at home at the moment and I’d love to see him bring his show here. The gospel, soul, Americana mix would go over brilliantly at St George’s, or The Thekla, in fact any Bristol venue… Please.
Twilights is on Bandcamp and you can buy his whole discography for just a few pennies more
Beau Jennings & The Tigers – Heavy Light (album)
Beau Jennings is one of those artists who makes you question your ability to root out good music. He’s been around for 20 years and I’m only just finding him now. His Tom Petty influence is clear but not dominant on the first two songs here ‘Sunflower’ and ‘The Comeback.’ Even the titles have a Petty flavour. The latter song has a Springsteen style Xylophone in the background on parts of the song that adds an epic feel to proceedings. After these two songs the album takes a turn for the bluesy with ‘I know these Guys’ having a bit of a Tom Waits chug to it. Heavy Light is a big rock song with a Marimba popping up. Nice to see some different instrumentation on all the releases I’ve talked about here. Special mention among The Tigers goes to guitarist Chase Kerby who turns in some effective solos.
Closing song ‘May This Song Be In Your Heart’ may be the standout, and sum’s up my view of the album. “May you find some rock n’ roll. When the work day is through And may this song be in your heart.” If you’re looking for some Rock n’ Roll ‘heavy light’ is a pretty good place to start.
If like me, you are new to Jennings the album is here (on Bandcamp where else) and we both have some catch up to do…
