DELTA LADIES - REFUGEE
2015 - Self Released
Until receiving my review copy of this extraordinary album I had never actually heard of the Delta Ladies. I was shocked to discover they often, whilst based in London, play in my area. I'm guessing that I hadn't heard of them because their ever expanding fan base wanted to keep them as 'their secret.'
If the Delta Ladies aim was to achieve a nice safe sanitized recording that would appeal to the mainstream they have failed miserably. If, however, it was to release an album that has a raw 'realness,' is challenging and genuinely takes various roots music aspects into new territory, (which is more likely!) they have succeeded totally! Pleasingly, the album never gives the impression of merely being way out on the boundaries of the various genres for the sake of it. Everything on the album has a totally natural feel of the development of their sound and songs, albeit in directions few others have tried. These two hugely talented musicians could well be a catalyst that helps to invoke further developments in blues and country without ever leaving the 'traditional' elements so far behind they are out of sight.
The duo consists of Vicky Martin on vocals, Bouzouki, Kandela (Chromatic Dulcimer), Psaltry and lap steel and Diana Stone on vocals, piano and violin, with various friends drafted in to fill out their unusual sound. There are a couple of the above instruments that I've had to Google to find out what they are ..... and I'm still not exactly sure! To my ears some of the instrumentation is what you would expect to hear on a recording from the Indian sub-continent and sounds very much like a 'tabla.' Irrespective of what it is their take on roots music and the directions they move in are highly original and whilst they are labeled as a blues band they have taken the genre to a different level and incorporated country and even folk into this unusual but quite addictive mix. Seven of the songs are written solely by Vicky Martin, plus three co-writes with Diana Stone and one solo by Diana and there is also an astounding version of the traditional House of the Rising Sun, here just called Rising Sun.
And so to the songs. Last Train with it's chugging guitar and sinister fiddle that rises and falls eerily on this deep dark blues is actually set in or around London and yet it has as natural a bluesiness as if recorded in the Mississippi delta or even Chicago, the two most famous homes of the blues! It really is a haunting, eerie tale that has a solidity and density that can only be achieved by the finest, most committed players. The following song, More Trouble, takes us in much more of a country direction with harmonica, occasional steel guitar, accordion and an excellent rural feel thanks to the lead and harmony vocals but it's not long before the listener will think; is this country music, or is it a totally new offshoot of the tradition before actually realizing the latter is the more likely but not definite! Rising Sun is an astonishing Delta Ladies arrangement of the classic House of the Rising Sun. There is a lovely dulcimer intro that when linked with the violin and occasional haunting harmonica takes this classic song deep into the darkness that was intended when the song was first conceived. There is a powerful percussive sound in the background that sounds like a tabla but in all probability is the psaltry? Whatever it is, even without Vicky's hugely evocative vocal, the instrumentation alone creates what must be one of the spookiest ever sounds recorded with instruments rather than studio trickery. Paranoia evokes exactly that! It is a deep dark almost schizophrenic instrumental with piano, guitar, violin and harmonica gradually giving the impression of the Paranoia deepening as we progress through the wash of sound that includes occasional little havens of peace, but that deep darkness is never far away throughout this five minutes plus musical experience. Brown Water Everywhere includes a lovely flowing violin that contrasts with the harmonica on another tremendous song that is rooted in the blues, evoking the old Mississippi floods, famously written about in song by the late great Charley Patton. We will never know for sure, but I do feel old Charley would have approved of the dynamic of this song and the atmosphere of grinding hopelessness that it creates. The album's astonishing title track Refugee is a real epic of the various styles and tempos covered in deep dark roots music. It is not only rooted in the blues but also African and eastern European folk music, country, American folk and probably many other strands that I can't decipher. This haunting tale is tied together by the wandering violin and percussion, with the vocal adding to the eeriness on this addictive tale that genuinely doesn't feel too long at almost eleven minutes!
This is one of very few albums I've heard recently that can be said to be true to the traditional makeup of blues, country and even folk music, whilst taking some of those elements and sometimes blending them, but always pushing on to a higher level of experimentation. That experimentation is not just for the sake of it either, but is actually a fully formed modern development of those traditions that whilst full of originality never leaves the traditions so far behind that the links become unrecognizable. To say the Delta Ladies have achieved something new and excellent in roots music is an understatement!
http://www.deltaladies.com/blog/
Until receiving my review copy of this extraordinary album I had never actually heard of the Delta Ladies. I was shocked to discover they often, whilst based in London, play in my area. I'm guessing that I hadn't heard of them because their ever expanding fan base wanted to keep them as 'their secret.'
If the Delta Ladies aim was to achieve a nice safe sanitized recording that would appeal to the mainstream they have failed miserably. If, however, it was to release an album that has a raw 'realness,' is challenging and genuinely takes various roots music aspects into new territory, (which is more likely!) they have succeeded totally! Pleasingly, the album never gives the impression of merely being way out on the boundaries of the various genres for the sake of it. Everything on the album has a totally natural feel of the development of their sound and songs, albeit in directions few others have tried. These two hugely talented musicians could well be a catalyst that helps to invoke further developments in blues and country without ever leaving the 'traditional' elements so far behind they are out of sight.
The duo consists of Vicky Martin on vocals, Bouzouki, Kandela (Chromatic Dulcimer), Psaltry and lap steel and Diana Stone on vocals, piano and violin, with various friends drafted in to fill out their unusual sound. There are a couple of the above instruments that I've had to Google to find out what they are ..... and I'm still not exactly sure! To my ears some of the instrumentation is what you would expect to hear on a recording from the Indian sub-continent and sounds very much like a 'tabla.' Irrespective of what it is their take on roots music and the directions they move in are highly original and whilst they are labeled as a blues band they have taken the genre to a different level and incorporated country and even folk into this unusual but quite addictive mix. Seven of the songs are written solely by Vicky Martin, plus three co-writes with Diana Stone and one solo by Diana and there is also an astounding version of the traditional House of the Rising Sun, here just called Rising Sun.
And so to the songs. Last Train with it's chugging guitar and sinister fiddle that rises and falls eerily on this deep dark blues is actually set in or around London and yet it has as natural a bluesiness as if recorded in the Mississippi delta or even Chicago, the two most famous homes of the blues! It really is a haunting, eerie tale that has a solidity and density that can only be achieved by the finest, most committed players. The following song, More Trouble, takes us in much more of a country direction with harmonica, occasional steel guitar, accordion and an excellent rural feel thanks to the lead and harmony vocals but it's not long before the listener will think; is this country music, or is it a totally new offshoot of the tradition before actually realizing the latter is the more likely but not definite! Rising Sun is an astonishing Delta Ladies arrangement of the classic House of the Rising Sun. There is a lovely dulcimer intro that when linked with the violin and occasional haunting harmonica takes this classic song deep into the darkness that was intended when the song was first conceived. There is a powerful percussive sound in the background that sounds like a tabla but in all probability is the psaltry? Whatever it is, even without Vicky's hugely evocative vocal, the instrumentation alone creates what must be one of the spookiest ever sounds recorded with instruments rather than studio trickery. Paranoia evokes exactly that! It is a deep dark almost schizophrenic instrumental with piano, guitar, violin and harmonica gradually giving the impression of the Paranoia deepening as we progress through the wash of sound that includes occasional little havens of peace, but that deep darkness is never far away throughout this five minutes plus musical experience. Brown Water Everywhere includes a lovely flowing violin that contrasts with the harmonica on another tremendous song that is rooted in the blues, evoking the old Mississippi floods, famously written about in song by the late great Charley Patton. We will never know for sure, but I do feel old Charley would have approved of the dynamic of this song and the atmosphere of grinding hopelessness that it creates. The album's astonishing title track Refugee is a real epic of the various styles and tempos covered in deep dark roots music. It is not only rooted in the blues but also African and eastern European folk music, country, American folk and probably many other strands that I can't decipher. This haunting tale is tied together by the wandering violin and percussion, with the vocal adding to the eeriness on this addictive tale that genuinely doesn't feel too long at almost eleven minutes!
This is one of very few albums I've heard recently that can be said to be true to the traditional makeup of blues, country and even folk music, whilst taking some of those elements and sometimes blending them, but always pushing on to a higher level of experimentation. That experimentation is not just for the sake of it either, but is actually a fully formed modern development of those traditions that whilst full of originality never leaves the traditions so far behind that the links become unrecognizable. To say the Delta Ladies have achieved something new and excellent in roots music is an understatement!
http://www.deltaladies.com/blog/