Sandi Thom - Flesh and Blood

Leave It To The Voice

Scottish singer Sandi Thom has travelled considerably since her 2006 no 1 hit declaration I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker [With Flowers In My Hair], though she clearly still rocks in opening stomper Help Me on this fourth album release, the second on her independent record label Guardian Angels Records. What hasn’t altered, as I recall from that hit single, is the full-on strength of Thom’s vocal. This is followed by an anthemic pop ballad I Owe You Zero, and this, as with third Flesh and Blood, has a generic power-pop quality in both sound and lyric – we all share our tears, we all have a one heart, we all need a bit a love – but it is the vocal strength that carries it higher than the predictable linguistic levels.

Fourth The Sun Comes Crashing Down is a Fleetwood Mac-meets-Country ballad where again the vocal provides the quality over and above the familiarity of the storytelling. Fifth In The Pines demonstrates just how stunning Thom’s singing can be, and the emotive impact it projects. Seventh Stormy Weather provides some variation with its funky rhythms a la Stevie Wonder’s Superstition. I particularly like the simple acoustic blues guitar and handclap support for another fine vocal on ninth track Rise As One – Thom doesn’t need a heavy hand on the production to produce power, which on this album has been provided by Black Crowes Rick Robinson [I’m not saying it is a heavy hand, but I prefer the occasional lighter touch], and the guitar work is also provided by fellow Crowes man Audley Freed. Tenth I Love You Like A Lunatic is a romantic confessional about Thom’s relationship with Joe Bonamassa, and this song would sit comfortably within any Dixie Chicks album, so that is a plus or minus depending on the listener’s inclinations.

The album does finish very strongly with penultimate Save Some Mercy For Me pumping out the power again, and final Lay Your Burden Down with slow single percussion beats and harmonium launching Thom’s beautiful voice here. There is an inevitable crescendo of sound, with wailing guitar and an organ swirl, as the song climaxes, but I would have been more than content to let Thom’s vocal carry that emotive peak because it is undeniably capable of doing so.