Joachim Cooder Dreamer’s Motel self release
When your father is Ry Cooder, and you’re taken on tour with him from early childhood, it’s probably inevitable that you’ll become a musician. In Joachim’s case, he spent a lot of time with and idolised his father’s go-to drummer, Jim Keltner, so it was always going to be drums for him. From playing on the famous Buena Vista Social Club project when in his teens, Joachim has worked as a drummer, both in the studio and on tour, with artists like Taj Mahal, Mavis Staples, Dr John and Ali Farka Touré. He has also produced several albums for his father, and for Sam Outlaw, Carly Ritter and Mavis Staples, among others. Film music composition has been another avenue he has pursued, but it has only been in recent years that he realised that he could sing. The discovery of a lesser known instrument, an electric mbira (a variation of the African thumb piano) allowed him to start to write songs and this latest seven track mini-album is his fourth solo release.
The opening and title track, Dreamer’s Motel, sets the tone for most of the record, a hypnotic, dreamy beat, evoking memories of times past. Led by Cooder’s slightly fragile vocals and his Array mbira and drums/percussion, he is joined by Ry on guitars, co-producer Martin Pradler on bass and a subtle brass ensemble. The song was inspired by his memories of a seaside motel north of LA where they used to go as children, but it was subsequently gutted and now lies decaying by the side of the road. Sight and Sound is another softly soothing soundscape, the backdrop to reminiscences of old love, ‘was that heartbeat yours or mine?’. The touching God Speed Little Children Of Fort Smith Arkansas speculates on the fate of children from an archetypal decaying town in Middle America. It introduces the sweet vocals of his wife, Juliette Commagere (a recorded artist in her own right), and his touring companion, Rayna Gellert, on viola. Cool Little Lion is a sheer joy, fondly remembering their rescue Chow, who had to be shaved in a ‘lion cut’ when they first found her.
In a slight contrast, there’s a definite gospel vibe throughout Let Me See My Brother Walk, with guest Kieran Kane contributing banjo, the soft vocal harmonies and layers of pedal steel (Ben Peeler), Ry’s guitar and Gellert’s viola swelling to a crescendo ending. Sea Level Man is the most dynamic number, with Ry Cooder this time switching to woozy electric mandolin.
A chance remark from his daughter was the catalyst for the most affecting and cinematic, extended, closing track, Down To The Blood. Deliciously dark, brooding and discordant, with more than a hint of Dr. John’s New Orleans voodoo ambiance, it is achived purely by Cooder’s own chanting vocals, layers of drums and percussion, and Ry on distorted electric banjo.
Overall, it’s an interesting and unique album well worth checking out, and try to catch Joachim on his upcoming tour of the UK.
Eilís Boland
Pug Johnson El Cabron Break Maiden / Thirty Tigers
Growing up in Beaumont, Texas, close to the Louisiana border, Pug Johnson was exposed to a wide range of music. Alongside the classic songwriting of his fellow Texans, influences that range from honky tonk to Texas swing and Cajun to swamp and Southern rock all surfaced on his 2022 debut full-length album, THROWED OFF AND GLAD, which was credited to Pug Johnson & The Hounds. That record addressed a number of thorny matters such as mental illness, infidelity, and alcohol abuse, some of which were personal sores that fortunately were healing by that time. Although dealing with quite dark subject matter, Johnson managed to cloak his messages in wicked humour, a ploy not uncommon in prime Texan songwriting. That playfulness also surfaces in EL CABRON, which may in some ways be a confessional lifestyle update from Johnson, since abandoning some of the less salubrious activities detailed in his last record.
The songs Last Call and Change Myself Today play out like a continuation of the thread on Johnson's debut album. The former harks back to living on the edge and seeking out the next high. The latter is a pledge to finally clean up or end up in the gutter. With a cool Memphis soul vibe, the gentle Believer salutes his wife for believing in him and applauds her trust and confidence in him. On a lighter note, Johnson also directed the tongue in cheek, and Cajun-influenced, Buy Me A Bayou towards his wife. The wild times and equally menacing men and women in the writer's former life emerge in Waxahachie and Hole In Me is a ‘'tears in your beer' full-on honky tonker. Raising the tempo to full throttle, Pipeliner Blues, borrowed from Moon Mullican (known affectionately as the King of the Hillbilly Piano Players), is a blast and a worthy reworking of the original.
Translated from Spanish to English, El Cabron has a number of definitions. The kindest, and most likely Johnson's priority is, affectionately, ‘badass’ or ‘dude’, the most severe being ‘bastard’. Whether semi-autobiographical or otherwise, that title track goes a long way in defining the album's direction. Johnson has abandoned some of the rockier edges of his debut album this time around and replaced them with classic Texan singer-songwriting, alongside toe-tapping honky tonk.
Recorded at Fischer Studios, Four Eyes Studios, Orb Studios, and Spectra Studios in Texas, the production is credited to Pug Johnson, Ryan Johnson, and Paul "Sweet P" Walker. Working with a talented crew of Texas’ finest players, EL CABRON is a further episode in Pug Johson's journey which offers the listener a collection of memorable songs.
Declan Culliton
Hudson Mueller Welcome To Earth Self-Release
The dilemma regarding what you want from your art is a factor for many artists. Is personal satisfaction simply their goal, or is commercial return their primary objective? Some are fortunate to achieve both but are in the extreme minority. Others find that commercial success can drive a wedge through their ultimate goal: to have their art recognised and appreciated by their peers and a fan group. Hudson Mueller's opening track, Money vs. Fame, on his debut album, WELCOME TO EARTH, dwells on this conundrum. The song is one of a number on the album that finds the writer deep in thought and tussling with often thorny subject matter, albeit with a degree of optimism.
Mueller is an Austin-born singer-songwriter who, in previous lives, played in the folk band The Hudsons before forming the southern soul outfit, The Gold Magnolias. His debut solo record finds his foot firmly on the slow-burning singer-songwriter pedal. WELCOME TO EARTH was recorded in winter at The Creamery in Brooklyn, which did not have a working heating system at that time. Mueller fondly remembers playing drums for thirty minutes before a recording session to warm up.
The eleven-track album criss-crosses from country rock tracks like Love Is Love and Xanthippi's Blues to the John Prine-styled Pull Up A Chair. With an uplifting gospel choir, Maintain recalls Bob Dylan's Christian trilogy albums and Never Loved No One Like You, with layered vocals and acoustic guitar, is a poignant break-up song. The title track cleverly plays out like an instruction manual to newborn babies ('Sun's gonna shine, wind's gonna blow, welcome to Earth, please enjoy the show'). In Quarantine Waltz, Mueller recalls living in Brooklyn, overlooking a hospital during the pandemic, and how the residents cheered and applauded the essential workers as they left work, after they finished their shifts.
Three decades into his career, Mueller's debut solo record is an open-ended affair, many of the songs are unalike but fit extremely comfortably alongside each other. From an artist who knows how to write and record hugely impressive songs, WELCOME TO EARTH is well worth your investigation.
Declan Culliton
Jason Boland & The Stragglers Last Kings Of Babylon Thirty Tigers
Back in the day an album called PEARL SNAPS was one that resonated with me and it became a firm favourite, as did the subsequent releases from Boland and his band. Now some twenty six years later they are releasing an album, that in some ways brings them full circle. As with the debut album it has been produced by Lloyd Maines, and the band then as now includes longtime compadre Grant Tracy on double bass. Naturally over the years the band has changed and members have moved on for a variety of reasons, yet the central essence of the band has remained the same.
Joining Boland and Tracy are Andrew Blair, AJ Slaughter, Jake Lynn and Nick Cedar, who have recorded a solid and satisfying album that delivers on many fronts. It has a purposeful energy, having been tracked essentially live in the studio. It is, somewhat naturally, a summation of more than twenty five years of travelling, playing, living and learning. This time out there is a selection of Boland’s own material, as well as some material from outside sources such as the Jason Eady/Jamie Lin Wilson/Kelly Mickwee co-write Drive, Ain’t No Justice from Randy Crouch and they close the album with a telling cover of Jimmy LaFave’s Buffalo Return.
The steel and fiddle are appropriately to the fore on the opening The Next To Last Williams, about the life of a hard travelling musician playing every club and county fair, but in the end wondering will anyone really care when he goes. Every generation has a figure that links to the past and a tradition that was true in the past, but now notes that in the middle of the game the rules are changed. It feels good to have this team making and continuing to make their music again.
They are able to make the changes to the songs as it requires. Drive has a mix of instruments, with mandolin featured over a solid beat, and keyboards that add to a mood which emphasises the need to drive where no one can find you. Take Me Back To Austin is about a wish to return to that city as against “going crazy In the woods”. The fiddle and steel interplay is again paramount. Living on the edge is something that it seems can be relived a little, by having some soothing substances, in High Time.
One of the album highlights here is One Law At A Time, a reflection of slowing down and taking life from a different perspective and coming to terms with no longer breaking one law at time. “I’m under the radar so I don’t have to hide”, and his relationship and marriage is “a contract between us, which we both abide.” He’s also resigned to the fact that now “I pay my taxes as there is no way around”. A slow paced acceptance of fate.
More uptempo, if downbeat in lyric, is Ain’t No Justice, which has a strong southern roots rock delivery that burns and notes that “the rich get richer” as they have always done. Farmall is a tale of a daddy driving “that thing” which is never really explained, but was apparently a noted event in the locale. It has a folky feel that complements its tale. The parting of ways is celebrated in Irish Goodbye, in the traditional Irish ‘wake’ style. Again there is a folk ballad element in its arrangement of piano and fiddle over a slow funeral rhythm.
Written some time back, the lyric of Buffalo Return has a relevance to these times, wishing to return to values that previously existed in less material times. As elsewhere Maines’ production is a perfect realisation of what this band have been searching for since they formed in 1998. That they remain this potent is testament to Boland’s vision and his continuing search for something that may not readily be defined, and yet is captured here in this decisive album.
Stephen Rapid
Grey DeLisle The Grey Album Hummin'bird
My journey with the music of DeLisle began back in 2000 with the release of THE SMALL TIME; that album introduced a unique voice in country/folk that was immediately identifiable. It was not one I found that had across the board admiration but one that I was immediately taken with. Now, some twenty-five years later, comes a self-titled album known as 'The Grey Album' as reference bit to her name and to The Beatles' own similarly-titled ‘White’ release. In a comparable essence, it offers twenty songs covering almost all aspects of her musical vernacular. There are stripped-back folk arrangements, some country-orientated material, some more up-tempo rockin’ tracks, and even more to discover.
Like me, if you are a fan, this is a totally diverting release that never fails to engage or make me feel that it would have been better with fewer tracks. Many of these songs originated in the lockdown pandemic, a prolific time for DeLisle. During this period, she began to record the songs often with her former husband, Murry Hammond (of The Old 97s). There was a sense of, perhaps, a loneliness running through some of these largely relationship-based songs. But they are also, at times, defiant and realistic. That DeLisle wrote all but two of the tracks, which she also was co-writer, which is in itself a testament to her overall abilities.
That sense of exploration can be defined by a diverseness that such tracks as Reach For The Sky, as one example, wherein the protagonist reacts to a two-timing man because “She caught him in the bathtub at a house of ill repute / He wished he hadn’t taught her how shoot shoot shoot.” This track was recorded with the excellent backing of just two multi-instrumentalists, Greg Leisz and Marvin Etzioni - who is perhaps the MVP through his production and instrumental prowess. These stalwarts are joined on different tracks on the album by such as Tammy Rogers, DJ Bonebrake, Deke Dickerson, and Stephen McCarthy, amongst others. They recorded the songs over a period of time and with different combinations of the artists and engineers involved with the recording, arrangements and production. The result is a roadmap of DeLisle's talent as a singer, writer, and musician as well as in picking the right confederates to work with.
That range, as mentioned, goes from the soft spoken entreaty of Daddy, Can You Fix A Broken Heart? In this DeLisle plays the autoharp, which she has often used on previous recordings (and also on second track here), this time using it over pedal steel and a subtle string arrangement. 40 Something Runaway is a song about seeking something new adventure later in life and the problems that can bring because of trying to survive on the move means "The soles of her boots wear thinner and thinner / She's skipping stones / She's skipping dinner / This hitchhiking life ain't going her way." A chance meeting with ex-Runaway singer Cherie Currie provided the opportunity to have her join DeLisle for a duet. The upbeat backing was again all provided by long-term collaborator Etzioni. Long Rider member, Stephen McCarthy, duets on Didn't We Try, another song where the backing belies the lyrical sense of trying but not succeeding. A summation of a perceived state of mind is the genesis of the rockin' I'm A Wreck. This contrasts again with the gentle request for a close intimate in Don't Let Go Of My Hand, with steel and strings underpinning that frame of mind.
And so, it goes on over the length of the album, one that never found me wanting to skip tracks but allowed me to remain within this individual musical world's different realisations of romance and revenge and all in between. Those who have already been captivated by DeLisle in the past will need no further encouragement to immerse themselves within its heart. This is the perfect starting point for new listeners to be introduced to the mind and music of an artist who has always remained true to her vision. Which, despite the album's title, offers something a lot more colourful and contrasting. She can be demure and dangerous but never mundane - this is the living proof.
Stephen Rapid
Ron Pope American Man, American Music Brooklyn Basement
This album kicks off with real attitude and the southern boogie of Nobody’s Gonna Make It Out Alive illustrates the superb band interplay along with the great dynamic in the production. Those of you who are familiar with Ron Pope will know that this is very much familiar territory across a career that has seen a steady flow of albums since a debut release back in 2008. Pope started recording with his college buddies and formed The District for a run of three albums before he branched out on his solo career. It’s safe to say that he has been running in the fast lane ever since. Prolific is one attribute, but when you couple this with consistently top-quality output, then you have a real winning formula.
The second track on the new album, I Gotta Change (Or I’m Gonna Die), is an insight into the curse of prescription drugs and their toll upon so many folks who have developed dependency issues across the USA ‘I used to never take an Advil, But if I don't earn we don't pay bills, Inside I'm screaming like an anvil, When iron and hammer meet.’ The travails of blue collar America continue on Klonopin Zombies and a song that again highlights prescription medication that is used to prevent and treat anxiety disorders, seizures, bipolar mania, agitation associated with psychosis, OCD and other symptoms. Certainly no panacea here.
With a strong work ethic of touring and writing, Ron Pope has regularly travelled across our continents, and his reflections hold a power that propels his songs to growing acclaim. This music is heartland America in all the ways that prior acts like John Mellencamp and John Hiatt mirrored the lives of ordinary people whose dreams and hopes are compromised by the simple act of trying to make an honest living. Pope is certainly the real deal and knows exactly how to echo the emotions of the everyman.
In the Morning With the Coffee On is a love song about treasuring the moment and slowing life down to the point where the little things become everything. Equally, the following song I Pray I’ll Be Seeing You Soon is a love song from the road to his wife and the need to keep her close while he travels with the music ‘You’re in my dreams until you’re in my arms, I pray I’ll be seeing you soon.’
The Queen OF Fort Payne, Alabama looks to the past and captures a time when being young and living free were everything and when experience and maturity lay in the distance ‘Come on, strap in boys, we're drinking like it's two thousand and five, I know that we'll crash tomorrow but tonight we're flying high.’ Another rocking song that shows off the great musicianship on the album.
Pope delivers slow songs with an ease that is also impressive and I’m Not the Devil is a relationship song that captures the breakdown of love, with co-vocals from Taylor Bickett and the restrained playing adding a layer of regret to the words ‘Broke down Chevy, grease on my hands, I didn't know we were counting, what's the measure of a man? I might've led you to water but never made you drink, I'm not the devil no matter what you think.’ A youthful memory is captured on Mama Drove A Mustang with fiddle and keyboards lifting the song arrangement ‘I was a sinner in the hands of an angry God trying to figure out who I was.’ Harmonica cuts thought the melody and drives the guitars along.
The love song Where You’re Kept has a gentle acoustic touch and captures a real connection between two people, while everything comes together on the last track The Life In Your Years and the hard-found wisdom reflects ‘And when I'm gone, please recall all the good I saw here, It's not the years in your life, it's the life in your years.’ Pope’s recent European tour in support of this album was a great success in capturing new audiences and there would appear to be nothing stopping the increasing momentum of this gifted artist towards ever greater recognition. Get on board now.
Paul McGee
Dan Raza Wayfarer Valve
With two critically acclaimed albums already to his name, Dan Raza has been referred to as one of the United Kingdom’s best-kept musical secrets. Those who have feted his talents over the years include Neil Young, Tom Paxton and Rodney Crowell and it seems somewhat unusual to be talking of his talents as still largely undiscovered. He is a new artist to me and this latest release delivers a powerful example of what I have been missing.
Having spent a lot of time gigging around England in previous years, Raza reflected upon no marked career progress on the horizon and decided on a fundamental change, moving to America and settling into the new challenge of facing life in a different environment. Over recent times he has continued to hone his talents in new territories and it is out of new perspectives gained that this third album now appears. The title gives a strong clue as to the direction taken in these songs and the urge to explore new inspirations provides the driving energy for the recording.
The over-riding impression across these tracks is one of an accomplished musician and at a level of craftmanship that is of the highest order. Self-produced by Raza, the twelve songs emerged over a few years and the list of musicians included in the creative process totals twenty-plus. It is great credit to Raza that he pulls all the strands together with such élan and in such a seamless fashion. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with the saying “You can never stand in the same river twice” and the central focus of the songs is that of learning from past mistakes and moving on in the knowledge that some growth has been achieved from the flow of life.
Behold the Night opens up the album with an invitation to feel hope and to be at peace with any self-doubt that may surface. Wasn’t That Enough For Me follows with a look back at life paths taken and a sense of gratitude. Water Reflects (What It’s Shown) is a soulful reflection on learned behaviour and the way in which we take for granted what is considered socially acceptable. The country feel of In My Own Time is a song that speaks of enjoying the passing days and the combination of mandolin, piano and violin is beautifully delivered.
Me and My Lady is a love song that reflects on the key to happy relationships and the need for openness ‘ Me and my lady…We’re catching fire, we’re taking flight, We’re making up for lost time.’ Raza sings with a very engaging and warm vocal tone and his sensitive and emotive phrasing adds greatly in delivering these songs as something approaching classic tunes that embed themselves into the sense that you have surely heard them somewhere before. I find myself singing along as if they are already timeless classics. Nothing Like A Woman has a sense of being very auto-biographical with the presence of a lady in the life of Raza sparking a search for change and leading to the adventure of new beginnings in love.
Only A Stone’s Throw Away speaks of the plight suffered by illegal immigrants into the USA and the necessity to leave for new beginnings in the hope of another chance ‘ But you only leave your home if your home won’t let you stay.’ It’s a sad observation on the cruelty that exists in the world today. The Truth Will Heal You has a soulful delivery and a message of enlightenment dropping slow, ‘The truth will heal you, If it don’t kill you.’ There is a Springsteen vibe in the essence and articulation.
New Born Man is a story song of endurance and perseverance, fighting illness and bad luck, the inclusion of tin whistle in the melody adding a poignance ‘So don’t write me off or look through me, I’m more than just these bones you see.’ On the song Like Strangers Again there is the thought that our natural state is one of separation and comfort in reverting to a state of being outside our need to feel close. Facing the truth and lost dreams populate We All Have To Dream Alone, again giving that sense of isolation and separation ‘Peel away the mask Amanda, and see what you find, do you recognise a man that’s left behind.’ The final song Still Got A Song To Sing is one of looking for direction with that sense of self-doubt circling and a wish to be able to see ourselves as others see us. Dan Raza has achieved something very special here. Call it classic Americana or an essential addition to the Folk troubadour tradition, on every count this is already a strong contender for album of the year. An exhilarating experience that inspires at every turn.
Paul McGee
Kris Delmhorst Ghosts In the Garden Big Bean
A new album from the gifted Kris Delmhorst is something akin to having an old friend visit and pull up a chair by the fireside for an evening of catching up and sharing warm conversation. It always seems like too long since she last visited and yet we are all the more pleased for her presence once again. It’s been five years since the release of LONG DAY IN THE MILKY WAY and the time between has not dulled Delmhorst’s keen sense of questioning our place in the order of things and the manner in which we negotiate this crooked journey of life.
The eleven songs included on the new album explore a world of impermanence and vulnerability, seeking answers and solace when it comes to the challenges of facing our mortality. The meditative atmosphere of Summer’s Growing Old opens the treasure trove that lies hidden, awaiting discovery, and the song uses the metaphor of the changing seasons to herald the ageing process, from the summer of our youth into the autumn of our days ‘Something in the air like a hinge is turning, corner of your eye like a shadow thrown.’
In keeping with this theme, Wolves brings a sense of foreboding as the future draws near, the uncertainty of days that we cannot control, the passing of loved ones and the spectre of feeling isolation. The metaphor of wolves gradually getting closer to the fire, burning brightly but attracting unwanted reality is perfectly formed ‘Just outside the edge of the light, they know how to wait, how to sit tight.’ The title track captures this same sense of foreboding and looks at death and bereavement as a burning internal fire, with ghosts present in everything that reminds us of a life that has now gone.
Won’t Be Long is a restless urge to break free and rocks out in a manner that highlights the superb ensemble playing of the studio musicians, lifting the melody and complimenting the words ‘They say it won’t be long, I wanna blow my cage, I wanna slip my skin, Leave behind these walls I’m in.’ The grief of living with loss runs through Not the Only One, the slow tempo echoing the frustration and incredulity at the way in which we can treat each other ‘Not the only one here with a broken heart…reading the news about flowers piled up in the schoolyard, Can this be the world, can this be the time.’ When everything seems out of control, all we can do is look to each other.
The song Age Of Innocence also runs with the idea of the human race on planet earth as a parasite, killing the host through our collective stupidity. Running down the planet resources with no regard for the future ‘Once we were innocent and unashamed, now we’re the only ones to blame, We never even knew we were living in the garden of Eden.’ It also echoes memories of youth when innocence was our only excuse.
Lucky River catalogues the life of someone fallen on hard times and fishing down by the river while an uncaring world speeds by on the highway above. The pain of losing out to fate and circumstance, and a brief encounter with unrequited love informs Beyond the Boundaries with a longing and a deep regret ‘Every desolate lover, every lost valentine, Would give their last breath, they would spend their last dime, to write more of the story somewhere down the line.’ Another love song is Dematerialize and the thought that sending a message to the universe can be reciprocated ‘ So tired of the apocalyptic grind, Let’s find a space to occupy, Point a finger close your eyes, let’s make a world we recognise and fly away.’
The entire album is a great testament to the creative muse of Kris Delmhorst with so much to immerse yourself in. The atmospheric production puts you by that fireside with a toast to old friends and hope for the journey that lies ahead in the distance.
Paul McGee
Edie Carey & Sarah Sample Lantern In the Dark: Songs Of Comfort and Lullabies Groundloop
Released in October 2024 and one that got away in the hustle and bustle of last year. This album is a healing balm in these times of uncertainty and increasingly mounting fear, which saw skilled artists Edie Carey and Sarah Sample come together for a second helping of sweet succour to the soul. Their combined talents are of a standard that guarantees real quality with songs that invite themselves into the heart of the matter and rest in the centre of all that stands as important in our days. The album is a follow up to the 2014 release TIL THE MORNING: Lullabies & Songs of Comfort which proved to be a popular collaboration between the two artists. It was a perfect example of a crowdfunding exercise with many supporters pledging funds in order to achieve the finance required for the recording process. Such trust from the fan base is returned here with lots of love and soul.
Opening song, I’m Here is the perfect introduction into the sense of having safe harbour when everything else is out of control. We all need reassurance in times of struggle and there is a generosity of spirit at play here that runs through the songs. There are a number of cover versions included, with the choices reflecting what resonated most with both Edie and Sarah.
The string arrangement on the Wilco song My Darling is superbly devised and delivered. It appeared on the SUMMERTEETH album of 1998 and is an inspired selection here, full of loving sentiment to a new born child. The Bob Dylan classic To Make You Feel My Love is superbly interpreted with the fiddle of Ryan Sharpe particularly effective. The list of musicians that add their talents to this project is very impressive and too many to list in this review, and the overall production of Scott Wiley is both sensitive and compelling in the gentle touch and delivery of all concerned.
Shine is a song from Sarah and is a reflective look back at the years that see a child leave the family nest and strike out on their own. ‘I looked up and you had grown, Turned around and you had flown.’ Beautifully realised. There is an elegant intimacy in the song All the Ways You Comfort Me, written by Edie, and the sense given of having a safe place to land when all the plates are spinning. It is a real highlight here among many great moments. The cover of Time After Time by Cindi Lauper is interesting in the arrangement even if it could never capture the longing in the original song.
Heaven Now is another example of the superb songwriter that Edie has evolved into, such nuance and subtlety in the creation. Perhaps it should have closed the album, but the final track is a cover of the James Taylor classic You Can Close Your Eyes and it captures the essence of immersing yourself in a sense of community where human connection is the key. We all share in one big group hug that captures the emotion and spirit of this album. An essential purchase. Bravo!
Paul McGee