Flying Low, But Soaring
This is one of the strongest cover to cover albums I have
heard for a while. Released in 2010, the band features more-than-solid drumming and bass
from, respectively, Brian Blade and Daryl Johnson – funk and reggae rhythms
underpinning most of what is played [listen to their tight performance on second
track I Believe In You] – but the two
star acts are without question dynamite if diminutive singer Trixie Whitley, daughter of the
late Chris Whitley, and distinctive guitar from the great Daniel Lanois who
also provides vocals and keyboards.
Opener Love Lies
provides signature Lanois guitar laying a swathe of sound throughout, and
Whitley’s voice, often echoed, dominates powerfully over the sweet background
vocals. Second I Believe In You has
that pulsating reggae beat at the start, introducing an even more sultry and
sassy Whitley vocal to ride the strutting bass line. Third Ring The Alarm is introduced at length with classic Lanois soundscapes,
and then becomes an 80s-esque pop song carrying this anti-80s listener along
by those guitar loops and echoes. Fourth Last
Time returns to a more gutsy number, funked-up rhythms and soulful singing
from both Lanois and Whitley: the guitar here stabbing rather than layering. Fifth
Surely is a more conventional ballad
with Whitley ploughing deeply with her impressive voice.
Seventh Slow Baby
provides a mesmerising masterclass in Lanois guitar work. It is superb. Eighth Silverado is a gospel’n’reggae amalgam
driven by the Whitley voice – and her 2009 EP The Engine is worth a listen to hear more of this clear talent, as
are the many clips on YouTube that feature her playing guitar, sometimes with
Lanois - and these predominantly live sessions add to the impressive experience of her emerging talent.
The album closes on an instrumental, Sirens, and again the Lanois guitar and effects production is hypnotic
in its brief repetitions. A truly wonderful album, perhaps flying under the
musical radar, but soaring as an aural signal.
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