Alice Wallace Here I Am Mule Kick
The latest album by Alice Wallace was constructed around some life-changing episodes endured by the Nashville-based artist at the time of writing. Not afraid to lay bare her vulnerabilities, she bravely visited emotionally raw terrain across the eleven songs. Wallace moved to Music City four years ago after spending a decade in California, where she was named Female Vocalist of the Year in 2017 by the California Country Awards. HERE I AM was recorded in two days at The Loft and The Studio in Nashville and features some Music City top-notch session players. Despite being written and recorded in Nashville, the sound is very much in the classic West Coast country rock school.
It may or may not have been an anticipation of approaching thunderstorms and difficult times when Wallace named her 2019 album INTO THE BLUE. Either way, it cemented her reputation as a leading light in modern country music and most likely to achieve household recognition. As with others, her momentum was halted by the arrival of COVID-19 and the personal issues she was dealing with. However, the lockdown didn't find Wallace sitting on her hands; quite the opposite. Teaming up with fellow singer-songwriter Caitlin Cannon, they formed their side project Side Pony, writing and eventually recording an album, ironically called LUCKY BREAK. A mixture of powerhouse retro-pop and country ballads, the duo aired the songs via often hilarious live streams until the world opened up again, and they headed off on tour, Thelma and Louise style.
HERE I AM finds Wallace returning to her tried and trusted template of heart-melting and confessional songs delivered in her note-perfect and stunning voice. 'Someday someone's gonna find out my biggest secret, I know they will. It's just a matter of time….. I've worked damn hard off for this epic fall from grace,' she ponders on the album's opening track, Imposter. An arrow straight to the heart and an admission of self-doubt and uneasiness, it's an opening chapter for what follows, songs that may have been testing to write but ultimately lead to emotional release.
That self-doubt surfaces in the beautifully expressed country ballad, I Was Wrong, and the equally soul-searching Dancin' to the Beat of My Heartbeat. The two tracks emphasise Wallace's ability to vocally shift confidently between the calm and the muscular. Her close friend Caitlin Cannon shares songwriting credits on the soulful Better Than This and the title track. Both songs, not surprisingly, have their emphasis on the positive rather than the negative.
Sunken and unfulfilled dreams may have provided the ammunition for HERE I AM, but the lasting impression after each subsequent listen is one of acceptance, rebirth, and renewed confidence. Alice Wallace may have encountered a mid-career wobble, but she is back to her best with a confident swagger with this easy-on-the-ear collection of most impressive songs.
Declan Culliton
Cyrena Wages Vanity Project Self-Release
Despite previously being a member of three bands and landing a record and publishing deal with her first band, Friends of Lola, Memphis-born Cyrena Wages has had to wait until her early thirties to release her debut album, VANITY PROJECT. Ironic and cynical as the title may seem, the ten-track album digs deeply into Wages' upbringing from her early childhood as a pageant queen, the demands of a small-town religious upbringing in the south, spreading her wings and moving to Nashville with stars in her eyes, and the resulting frustrations of a decade in that city.
Born and raised in Millington, Shelby County, Tennessee, into a musical family, she was exposed to Stax soul music and old-time country by her parents from an early age. However, what left the most lasting impression on Wages was her years on the pageant circuit ('I think it's the most screwed up thing in the world, it's like everything that's wrong with the conditioning of Southern women'). The move to Nashville after high school was also far from memorable and resulted in disillusion and rejection despite working the system, recording formulaic music that never got released, and eventually returning to Memphis. The tales of unfulfilled and broken dreams could have ended there, but with innumerable memories to draw on, Wages translated those headaches into ten often dramatic songs.
Evoking the sound of Memphis more so than Music City, the soulful instrumentation and overall vibe supplied Wages with the perfect platform for her soaring multi-octave vocals. Having worked on the songwriting with R&B and jazz guitarist Joe Restivo, that Memphis connection was cemented by engaging Matt Ross-Spang as producer and recording at his now-famous Southern Grooves Studio in Crosstown.
Standout tracks are the mid-tempo opener Are We Allowed to Fall in Love and the title track, which particularly hits the bullseye. The fluidity of Carried Away recalls Frazey Ford at her most soulful, and the bittersweet Heartbreaker is a nostalgic tearjerker.
Very much a 'beauty born out of chaos' album and one written under the pandemic blues umbrella, VANITY PROJECT is a body of work by an artist who may be a late bloomer but has kicked off her recording career in fine style.
Declan Culliton
Kiely Connell My Own Company Thirty Tigers
There has been a marked increase in confessional and open-hearted recordings in the past few years, following the pandemic and enforced lockdown. Dealing with mental health issues, relationship breakdowns and substance abuse, the majority of these recordings are from women, a pointer towards their new fearlessness in publicly bearing their souls by confronting thorny issues. The subject matter has generated credible songwriting and several standout albums, rather than anything sounding manufactured or industry-formulated. Recent albums by Sarah Gayle Meech, Amelia White and Diane Coll immediately come to mind.
Indiana-native, Nashville-based country and roots artist Kiely Connell's sophomore album, produced by Tucker Martine (Neko Case, REM, The Jayhawks), falls into this category. It charts traumatic memories, a broken relationship, body shaming and, most importantly, recovery and rebirth.
Restless Bones revives bitter memories of the funeral of a high school friend after she took her own life. A haunting and image-generating song, it stands shoulder to shoulder with Lucinda Williams' Pineola in detailing the trauma of unexpectedly losing a close friend. Consent, entitlement and the mixed signals of modern dating are aired in the fiery Damn Hands, with Connell vocally spitting fire in front of a rugged guitar riff. The excesses, both liquid and pharmaceutical, all too easy to fall foul of the routine life of the artist, are addressed in Through To You. It's a particularly slick slice of roots rock that recalls Kathleen Edwards at her most animated. Connell's weather-beaten vocals on Anaesthesia channel the numbness and isolation endured at the lowest ebb after a relationship break up.
The album concludes with a committed and reinvigorated theme following the confessional and darker material. On The Mend points towards moving on from life's complexities, and the title track is one of forging ahead as a free spirit ('Cause maybe I could still turn out to be the girl of my dreams and find that all I want to keep is my own company').
Kiely Connell has turned up the heat a number of notches with My Own Company. Her 2021 album CALUMET QUEEN was a striking introduction to a vocalist and songwriter not afraid to confront the darker side of hardship and survival. The savage intimacy and emotional outpourings on this album more than make good on the promise of that debut album. It's a riveting listening experience and a reminder that art often provides much more than simply entertainment. Let's hope it gets the exposure and attention it richly deserves.
Declan Culliton
Jason McNiff Everything’s A Song Tombola
An English songwriter of great repute, Jason McNiff brings his lyrical guitar style to a ninth album, just two years on from his last release Tonight We Ride, which was entirely focused of cover versions. He sings in a quiet vocal tone and the folk leanings in his writing provides the perfect foil for his gentle songs. Run Away With the Circus is an example of his independent persona and style, with the lines ‘My mind is a woman, my heart is a man, and together they do the best they can, I’m just a child with a childish plan, to run away with the circus.’ Clever wordplay and nice imagery to fuel the imagination. The electric guitar on These Dreams Of You is nicely knitted into the acoustic melody and a counterpoint to the sentiment of love unrequited.
There is no doubting the influence of Bert Jansch in these song stylings and I also hear the sweet tones of Mark Knopfler, especially on My Mississippi and True Love, Freedom. No bad thing either, as learning from your mentors and matching their inspiration in your own music is certainly carrying the torch forward. A cover version of Bella Ciao, a folk song from the 19th Century, is perhaps the only potential weak point, the arrangement sounding somewhat laboured and out of place on the album.
There is a story song called Chef Song in the best English folk traditions and the inclusion of Wedding Dance highlights the violin of Richard Moore along with Hammond organ on a sweetly performed instrumental. McNiff contributes on guitars and Hammond organ while producer Matt Armstrong adds bass, drums and percussion. Jude Montague appears on pump organ, Hammond organ, and vocals, alongside both McNiff and Armstrong.
There is a blues feel to No Good For You with a nice electric guitar solo that wraps the message ‘Too much truth is no good for you.’ The final song is the album title Everything’s A Song and draws joy from the simple things in life and takes a perspective that all experiences are part of an all embracing colourful vista. There is a light sense of playfulness throughout this enjoyable album and it’s another fine example of the talents on display from Jason McNiff.
The Electrics Big Pub In the Sky Self Release
Originally formed in 1988, this Celtic rock band from Dumbarton, Scotland, is comprised of Sammy Horner (vocals and bass guitar), Paul Baird (guitar), Dave McArthur (drums) and Allan Hewitt (saxophone, keyboards). Over subsequent years, various members came and went, while the band played on, and nine albums were released between 1991 and 2014. They never officially called it a day and any hiatus in subsequent years was occasionally punctuated by live gigs in different shapes and forms. There has always been an evident chemistry from the first time they played together that endures.
On this return project the original gang of four are joined by former member Tim Cotterell (fiddle, mandolin) who returns to the family, and the ten tracks are a joyous celebration of all that is good in the Celtic rock tradition. Yes, you will hear, on occasion, a sense of the Pogues in the boisterous arrangements, and at other times, the Waterboys, in the uplifting melodies and the vocal delivery of Sammy Horner, but throughout is the unmistakable edge that has made the Electrics such a celebrated act wherever they perform. Matters kick off with a global warming message in Big Train Coming and a sense that a day of reckoning is on the horizon if we are not willing to change our ways.
Big Pub In the Sky and Fall From Grace are fine examples of the celebratory sound that the Electrics produce, with everything turned up full throttle and the clever lyrics sprinkling some magic dust upon proceedings. The River Flows and Happening To Me are more considered and highlight the softer, more lyrical side to the band as they contemplate their place in the greater scheme of things.
We All Have To Row is a prime example of the philosophical themes that are addressed, with the ocean of life tossing us on the waves of change in our little lives ‘ We’re in this boat together, and we all have to row.’ It’s a standout song and one that will no doubt endure in the years to come. If the end of days is indeed upon us with the weakened condition that the world has fallen into, then songs like Brand New Start and Best Is Yet To Come point to a faith in our beliefs and our spirituality to find fresh optimism in a future that dwells beyond our mortal forms.
The final song Yesterday’s Rain resolves to leave the listener with a message of hope and the will to endure through all the hard times, as the writer encounters a wise old patron in a local bar ‘The cold wind will blow all the sleet and the snow, The dark clouds of anguish will bring each one pain, With a wink of his eye he raised his glass high, This fine glass of whiskey was yesterday’s rain.’
There is much to admire on this fine album and it is a testament to both endurance and individuality. For this band of brothers to be creating music that remains stimulating, vibrant and very Zen, is not only rewarding, but also inspiring. You should add this album to your collection with all haste.
Nick Taylor Not Alone Self Release
Austin, Texas is home to this singer songwriter and this is his debut album. Taylor has been bracketed as an Americana artist but in truth there is as much Country influence in the ten tracks that are featured here. He went to Nashville to record the album and used some of the best session musicians available, so this certainly colours the sound and the final results.
Taylor wrote all the songs and he plays acoustic guitar in addition to taking all lead vocals. His voice has a deep resonance and the powerful delivery expresses a quiet confidence in what he is doing. The studio musicians really step up to the plate and the arrangements on all songs are very impressive with the understated ensemble playing prominent in the mix.
Standout tracks like Songs About the Glory and Broken Souls display a great maturity and look at different aspects in relationships, both good and bad. There are story songs and Getting Along spins out a tale of two loners who meet on a desert highway. Love comes in different forms and who can say what works out best in the end. Another song, Kentucky Girl drifts along on a sweet melody of piano and guitar looking at desire and the need to be loved.
On the other hand, Futures Past looks at the loss of a relationship and memories of a Summer spent in hedonistic pleasure. 3AM On the Interstate also looks to challenges in a relationship and concerns of slipping back into a life that is best left back in the past. The fiddle and mandolin on Dead Land Future are very atmospheric on a song that deals with the pain of trying to start over ‘ I blew both my shoulders at the age of 23, Working towards another man’s dream.’
Heart On the Run is traditional country with organ and guitar riding the beat while the song reflects ‘I got a 20-year history of feeling like a fool.’ Don’t let life pass you by is the abiding message and on Carry You Home the sentiment is one of care for one another and comforting the lost. Dogs has a rock groove and looks at making changes as inner resolve pushes you towards better days.
The musicians that play on the album are David Flint (various guitars, mandolin), Wayne Killius (drums), Dave Francis (bass), Chris Nole (piano, keyboards), Deanie Richardson (fiddle), Pat McGrath (acoustic guitar), James Paul Mitchell (pedal steel, dobro), and Billy Thomas (backing vocals). The entire project proves to be well worth the investment made by Nick Taylor in shaping these songs in such an impressive fashion. His instincts pays dividends throughout a strong debut album.
Paul McGee
The Makers Out Bloodlines/Hope Self Release
This musical project is the brainchild of founder Scott Bell. He is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is known as a music producer, composer, and photographer. He has written scores for modern dance, played in the band Buffaloswans and toured with Julianna Barwick and Sigur Rós, among others. This debut album was produced by Bell and he also wrote all eleven songs that play out over a listening time of one hour.
The official website states that the album represents ‘a culmination of many years of evolution birthed from ancestral struggles, victories, unspoken words, forgiveness, and reconstruction.’ Although this sounds like a statement of disproportionate aggrandizement, Bell also is quoted as saying “I feel like my music is spiritual in nature, I do not write songs regularly, but wait for them to write themselves through me.”
The music is a potent mix of roots, country, folk and 70s psychedelic rock, all presented in heady soundscapes and style. The swirling synth sounds of opener Holy Water lay out a message of peace and community and lead into Golden Driller which explores the hope that is held out for a relationship to unfold and bring joy. Throughout, a sense of peace permeates everything with drifting pedal steel (Roger Ray) and harmony vocals building a great atmospheric backdrop to the synth (Chris Combs, Scott Bell) and guitar melodies.
The big production sound and keyboard swell on Hallelujah breaks down to simple piano on the outro and seamlessly segues into Lhasa and a sweep of gentle melody and mood. The lack of a lyric sheet is disappointing as the words are hard to make out but the swathes of instrumentation bear a clear message of spiritual awakening. The heavenly vocals on Stillborn, courtesy of Libby Decamp, are particularly attractive and on the credits the singers are listed as Sarah Maud, Liz Coffman, Jillian Rutherford and Jesse Aycock. Bell plays guitar, organ, piano, drums and sings, while also using studio musicians on woodwinds, trombone, trumpet, cello and violin to swell the lush sound on specific tracks.
Psychic Geography is very memorable with a nice rhythmic beat before drifting into ethereal directions with vocal echo and instrument reverb as it meanders back towards the original groove. It’s one of the longest tracks at eight minutes plus and it is followed by Blood a melancholic instrumental piece with marimba and violin mixed into the guitar treatments and synth sounds. The title track follows and images of big skies and endless horizons come into view, framed by mountains and a sense of the land speaking on the gentle breeze.
Religion is a song that looks at dogma and the human habit of ignoring the obvious. It’s a soulful sound that has nice harmony vocals and piano before it takes off into the heavens on layers of guitars and keyboards. The final track is the longest, clocking in at almost nine minutes, and Five Hundred Million Pounds Of Memory is anti-war and a message of loving awareness with acknowledgement to those who sacrificed in the name of freedom. This is a huge project with many interesting roads to walk down. Overall it is a panorama of what was once referred to as the Hippie dream, a way to come together and spread messages of love and peace. Certainly worthy of investigation.
Paul McGee
Will Kimbrough For the Life Of Me Self Release
This American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer grew up in Mobile, Alabama. It is no exaggeration to say that he has influenced the contemporary country and folk scene as much as any of his peers over the last few decades. His output is peerless in terms of the amount of music he has created, collaborated on, or assisted in its development. This album is his eight solo project and the eleven tracks are superbly crafted, as you would expect.
It has a raw energy and a stripped back sound with Kimbrough providing vocals, guitars, and keyboards, with Chris Donohue on bass and Bryan Owings on drums and percussion. The atmospheric Southern Wind is a highlight, with the brooding slow melody and tasty guitar dynamics mixing with the lyrics that carry a sense of foreboding.
The jangling guitar on The Other Side reflects a Tom Petty sound and the laid-back groove on I Don’t Want To Start A War takes a look back at the idealism of the 60s peace movements and the lost message of peace and love in the present political divide and corporate complexities. River Of Roses is a song that tackles past crimes against the civil rights movements who fought bravely for equality and freedom, with reference made to the beatings suffered by leader John Lewis at Selma, Alabama in 1965.
Clotilda’s On Fire also stands out with the musicians kicking up quite a storm in memory of the last known U.S. slave ship to bring captives from Africa to the United States, in 1859. The song suggests that we are still living with the ghosts of those evil times and it’s certainly something that still divides class and communities in modern society. The title track is a gentle acoustic ballad that bemoans the differences between those who profess to seek communication, especially in personal relationships.
Every Day seems to be an aspiration for a happier world and the sing-along chorus belies the sense of separation that permeates other songs on the album. Are things really getting better? The jury is out… Final track When This Is All Over has a nice rockabilly swing with harmonica and guitar parts lifting the message of forgiveness and moving forward. This album is certainly a highlight in an illustrious career and Will Kimbrough can be more than pleased with the results.
Paul McGee
Leaf Rapids Velvet Paintings Self Release
This band is from Winnipeg, Canada and this is their third album release, and a follow-up from the superb Citizen Alien that appeared back in 2019. The band have a lovely laid-back sound that fits perfectly into a roots-americana lane on the endless highway of music genres, and their sweetly structured songs come highly recommended. The band is comprised of Keri Latimer (songwriter, acoustic guitar, lead vocals, theremin), Devin Latimer (bass guitar), Joanna Miller (drums, supporting vocals, whistling), and Chris Dunn (electric guitar).
The opening song, and title track, has a real personal manifesto, with the words ‘When I get my shit together, I’ll be a force to reckon with, Possessor of self-discipline, Not dreaming the day away.’ Songwriter Keri Latimer taking back control of her life amid the reality of increasing corporate greed in the world and the sense of feeling overwhelmed in the face of all today’s negative media ‘Don’t be so melodramatic, It’s just a semi-automatic, Anyone can get one down the street.’ A healthy sense of irony is indeed required!
Starling To A Starling is a love song that has a melody similar to the iconic Chris Issak track Wicked Game but with sweet pedal steel and guitar lines tickling the senses. Fast Romantics is a very giddy love song served on instant desire and pleasure with a seductive delivery to highlight the playfulness in the lyrics ‘Found a fast romantic, In a Dollarama Isle, Rows of shiny plastic, And your Dalai Lama smile,’ all modern kitsch on demand and a superb guitar break courtesy of Chris Dunn.
Silver Fillings is a real highlight and shows the sophisticated and subtle lyrical qualities of Keri Latimer. Questions concerning the durability of love itself and also, quite a coup to conjure up a song around dental work and abstract thoughts ‘My silver fillings are sometimes receivers, First time it happened I thought it was Jesus, Funny the things that can lead to salvation, Holes in my teeth and a radio station.’ Bravo!
Night Shift uses the whistling skills of Joanna Miller to such great effect that the sound is exactly like a theremin, superbly echoing the sense of isolation in coming off work in the twilight hours and entering into the new day ‘My quiet industry, In the hours that memories keep, The fox and owl agree, The darkest hours are not for sleep, Here on the night shift, We tuck the days in one by one’ - oh so eloquent and evocative…
Paramjit’s Sonnet is such an enduring love song that captures the essence of true, unequivocal devotion to another in the purest way, strings elevating the melody and Keri giving such a beautiful vocal performance of emotion from the heart. Selfless love in all true colours. As a contrast, In the Woods captures that sense of peace coupled with a certain awareness of otherness when we walk along in nature ‘There are stories in the trees, Every ring a memory, It’s like they’re trying to find the words, Something’s stirring in the woods, If we only understood.’
Trepidatious Celebrations is an interesting inclusion and seems to channel a moment in time where a birthday gift is shared between lovers under curfew conditions in perhaps Covid lockdown or during wartime? The final song Insomniac Show captures the heady days of youth and two students sharing fun and Beaujolais wine late into the night ‘We were insubordinate humanitarians, With revolutionary plans to stick it to the man, Now I’m selling real estate and knock-off Melvin Kleins, Did you once say you loved me out beside the BFI?’ The reference to a waste management plant (BFI) is telling, the insight and perspective razor sharp, as a mirror into our collective psyche that often ends up settling for some form of compromise in adult years.
Special guests include Geoff Hilhorst (Rhodes and Hammond A-100), Bill Western (pedal steel), Natanielle Felicitas (cello), and John Paul Peters (violin). Production is by John Paul Peters and Keri Latimer and the recording took place at Private Ear Recording in Winnipeg,. All songs are written by Keri Latimer except Night Shift written by Joanna Miller, and Paramjit's Sonnet a co-write with Paramjit Singh.
The playing and the live feel is so perfectly captured and the players elevate the songs as a collective in their interplay. Let’s call the whole experience one of Canadicana; a specific genre that bottles the songcraft of truly gifted artists and ideas embedded in their culture. The nine songs included run for an immersive thirty-six minutes, leaving you just wanting more. Then again, one can always hit the repeat option to indulge yourself all over again. As roots music goes this is one of the strongest albums of the year.
Paul McGee
Alice Wallace, Cyrena Wages, Kiely Connell, Jason McNiff Nick Taylor Music, The Makers Out, WILL KIMBROUGH Leaf Rapids