Solid After Solid
Recorded in London with Nick Lowe’s band and record
producers, the songs on this fine album are as English as wall-to-wall summer
sunshine.
Indeed, opener Sweet
time is as honky-tonk blues as the humid heat of a Deep Southern States’ post-Spring
season, just to clarify, but second I
love you more is continental, a lounge ballad with strings yet
country-defined by Lauderdale’s distinctive twang. This and next We’ve only got so much time reside in
their echo of 50s/60s pop balladry too, and perhaps this also hints at a
marriage between roots and the international. Whatever, these are well-crafted
songs, self-penned and co-written with the likes of Dan Penn and John Oates.
Fourth You came to get
me is more upbeat, a walking pop-blues with horns and a hint of The
Mavericks adding to the musical geography. What
have you got to lose is gospel with a vocal chorus, and If I can’t resist returns to the
latin-esque beats I hear in the Mavericks’ echo.
And it continues, solid song after solid song, Lauderdale’s
signature sound in that vocal drawl. Ninth Different
kind of groove some time is a soulful interjection, smooth as the groove
its title signifies, a Country Green in the singing, if you get the al-lusion.
After the opener, eleventh Don’t shut me down is the other purer country song, with the album
closing on the rockabilly of This is a
door. Time to open it up and dance through the happy hall of songs once
more.
No comments:
Post a Comment