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Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2021

Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days

Including an album like this in the Fruit Tree Records albums of the year feature is a little like picking a year from the sixties and praising a Beatles album as one of the best. It is rather stating the obvious with ‘In These Silent Days’ too because the acclaim showered upon it at the end of the year was plentiful. This is hardly a case of picking out a hidden gem that deserves a day in the sun. Well, what I would argue to that is twofold; firstly, there are many albums released on the major labels that receive accolades and high placements in end of year lists which are there more due to the strength of the marketing campaign rather than anything too remarkable in the actual music; secondly, I have a personal desire for all the records I rate strongly on a musical level to have a visible presence in the mainstream. Yes indeed, there is no old school style indie snobbery on display here, I really want great albums to top the charts every time.

‘In These Silent Days’ is an album born out of the early 2020 days of lockdown. As such, there is a heavy injection of introspection and open-hearted emotion. It just so happens though, that this is exactly where Brandi can massage your soul. She has been likened to many an early seventies singer-songwriter, but this is simply because she carries the flame for that era so well. Her sound is hand crafted and warm; her acoustic touch is sure and her lyrics have a directness to them that betray a deep understanding of the song writer’s craft. The opening trio of songs put all of these gifts in the front window display. ‘You And Me On The Rock’ (about Brandi and her wife, there’s a hint of CS&N’s ‘Our House’ in the breezy tone) and ‘This Time Tomorrow’ are superior ballads crying out for a writer to apply the word Americana to them (you’re welcome). However, it is opener ‘Right On Time’ that really grabs you by the collar. Referencing the album title, the way Brandi’s vocal takes off with the line “it wasn’t right, but it was right on time” letting loose a vibrato vocal to die for, this is clearly a performer putting everything she’s got into her song, listeners sit up and take notice at these moments.

It was with her second album, the 2007 release ‘The Story’, that Brandi Carlile showed a hint of a signature to her music. That was a volcano of power simmering inside her, a stunning strength in projection that she would allow to erupt exactly when a song demanded it. It is still there today and appears intermittently throughout ‘In These Silent Days.’ That vocal I referenced on track one certainly, but then ‘Broken Horses’ revs its engines in a similarly thrilling fashion as does ‘Sinners Saints And Fools,’ which explodes into a crescendo two thirds of the way through. But primarily for this release, it is the delicate touch and warm production undercoat that leave the strongest impression. ‘Letter To The Past’ has that rural ambience heard on the first McCartney solo album and ‘When You’re Wrong’ shows a little vulnerability mixed with grateful awareness in a gentle ode to “someone strong enough to love you when you’re wrong” (and it ends on a beautiful little chord change reminiscent of The Beatles ‘And I Love Her’). There are some great records that earn the acclaim thanks to the simple trick of presenting a great songwriter doing their thing and doing it extremely well. This is one such album, no gimmicks, no bullshit, just an amazing artist playing an incredible set of songs.

Get a vinyl pressing of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/20426491-Brandi-Carlile-In-These-Silent-Days

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Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2021

La Luz – La Luz

The sound of an eternal sunset, that great ball of fire slowly descending behind a baron mountainous landscape at the end of a winding, empty, open road. That is how I feel about the lush, aching sound made by the band La Luz, a sound that they seemed to refine and fully realize on this, their fourth album, without smoothing out the rough edges that make this music so raw and alive. It is a sound comprised of tried and tested classic garage rock elements; there’s the chiming electric guitar patterns, electric keys picking out the primary colours within the tunes, splashes of mellotron and kaleidoscopic effects, deep primal bass and best of all, you are never far away from a dreamy, harmonious female vocal that exhales pure honey-drop soulfulness over every bar. That is not just heard in the lead singing of Shana Cleveland, it is also there in the ever-present Lena Simon and Alice Sandahl backing, they have literally wrapped their heavenly oohs and aahs all over this record. By blending these touchstones over some beautifully written, melodic songs, they have captured and bottled that elusive mid-sixties hazy vibration. Check out the echoey opening of ‘Down The Street’ for further evidence, it is ambience that is captured as much as instruments, you can almost feel the air in the room touching the strings.

The album feels so good, but it aches; listen to ‘Watching Cartoons,’ in which they sing about doing just that “in my room” and manage to make the activity sound like the heaviest, most heart wrenching activity a young adult could engage in. The guitar solo in ‘Oh Blue’ is pure Duane Eddy, echo-drenched surf guitar tastiness but the garage band looseness still underpins these moments, as here electric piano behind the solo indelicately hammers out chords. The scene is set on ‘Goodbye Ghost’ by a minor key piano progression but again there is contrast, as the bass line is agitated and driven. These irresistible ying/yang motions pave the way for the tune to burst wide open into fireworks of widescreen sonic delight. I am writing this as the album plays, hoping to grab hold of the key moments that make the self-titled ‘La Luz’ record such an essential listen, but as I am speedily trying to nail down in writing what my ears are bathing in, it occurs to me that there are not a selection of highlights here, the whole album is a heart stirring blast from beginning to end.

The ”do what you gotta do” repeated chorus line in ‘Metal Man’ prove La Luz have an ear for a good pop hook. Do not underestimate the musical chops that are still required today to actually write twelve great new songs. If it was that easy everyone would be doing it and, believe me, many are not. Here, is a fine example of the reason crate diggers and music addicts like me continue to keep our ears out for new stuff, it is because there are artists in the world still working away at their craft, refining, evolving it and creating work as wonderous and head-spinning as this. The album closes with La Luz’s first up front gear shift of the whole record. ‘Spider House’ is a fuzzy guitar led instrumental with a huge nod to ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ which, positioned as it is in the running order, does suggest that La Luz are going to be progressing further on from here. I will certainly be paying attention to whatever they do next.

Find a vinyl pressing of this album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/20656315-La-Luz-La-Luz

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Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2021

Billy Bragg – The Million Things That Never Happened

Billy Bragg arrived in the 1980s a fully realized, self contained, left-wing, protest singing iconic beast. He knew how to grab the attention with that thick Essex accent and his, almost sixties-like throwback topical songs of current social and political issues, were delivered in the unpolished manner of a man who had lived through and been fired up by the aggressive energy of the punk years. Much of the output Bragg released in the eighties is time stamped to the era, one of the indelible brick walls protest songs come up against, it is hard to be both topical and timeless. Bob Dylan managed it, Phil Ochs (one of Bragg’s great heroes) was less successful despite, at the time, being rated as one of Dylan’s greatest contemporaries. The thing that always marked Billy Bragg out for potential longevity was that he clearly had an ear for a great pop song. Just listen to ‘A New England’ or ‘Sexuality’ for evidence of this, Bragg understood that he was far less effective in the cultish margins and proved himself rather adept at projecting right into the mainstream on a platform of great songwriting.

The truth is that, at his core, Billy Bragg was a child of that open-minded musical sweet spot which blossomed in the late sixties, early seventies. That time when chart music really was a broad church, when amazing songs were raining down on impressionable young minds every week and folk, folk rock, rock, baroque-rock, psych-rock, psych-soul, soul, r&b, reggae, gospel, country as well as out-and-out pop all got stirred into the great big melting pot. Bragg wrote in his autobiography of having his soul touched and imagination ignited by the sounds of Simon & Garfunkel and, truth be told, that magical blend of rich, harmonic melody, warm analogue production and carefully composed lyric writing nourished his soul from that day on and never departed. However, that musical DNA took a while to really show itself in his own releases; Bragg seemed a little lost in the middle part of the nineties before joining forces with Americana gods Wilco on the Woody Guthrie series of albums, a union that seemed to unlock the door in Billy to let those childhood roots bleed into his own music. Further down the line, especially in the last ten years, Billy Bragg albums have been lush testaments of audio beauty, thoroughly draped in gorgeous only-living-boy-in-west-England tones and rich in sonic texture. Like so many 21st century releases by the likes of Paul McCartney or Neil Young, these LPs may never be the classics that the uninitiated investigate first, that the legends are built upon, but neither do they dilute the catalogue. They are exquisitely crafted pieces of work waiting to reward those who are prepared to dig deep and this Bragg album from 2021 is one of the finest.

Produced by members of the Magic Numbers, the record taps wholesale into the psych-folk vibes that Bragg has seemed to be edging closer to over the years. Mellotron sounds abound, as does soulful fiddle and keys that coat a sublime country-rock ambience. Coming out of the pandemic lockdown, social issues still appear, as do US politics in songs like ‘The Buck Doesn’t Stop Here No More,’ but these days he also explores the failings we all inhabit as human beings. The way we are riddled with inconsistencies as our actions, especially towards each other, are driven by emotion rather than considered, measured declarations. Bragg is also acknowledging, in a way that forthright political debate rarely allows, that there is room for two opposing views to be both right and wrong, certainly that there are sometimes no definitive answers and even if they exist, they can get lost in battle. ‘Mid-Century Modern’ explores this explicitly, as Billy sings “that old familiar argument blew up again last night, the one where one of us is wrong but both of us feel in the right. My indignation drove me to say things I might regret, I hurt the one that I love the most with my self-righteous temperament.” This is certainly not a finger pointing lyric, the song repeats its verses with the singer focusing in on “the gap between the man I am and the man I want to be.” Ultimately, as Billy Bragg matures and grows, so too does his music and by slowing down his output a little, he is ensuring that every release continues to be as vital a listen as the last; the man is still pushing for that great leap forward in both humanity and song, he remains one to cherish and his work deserves appreciation.

Find a vinyl pressing of this album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/22015117-Billy-Bragg-The-Million-Things-That-Never-Happened

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Monthly Playlists

August 2022 Playlist

I’ve been away, exploring the Scottish Highlands for a couple of weeks. Presented with a chance to escape the relentless dry, England summer 2022 heat you would assume, surrounded by vast natural beauty, gently rolling waters drifting out ahead of me framed by dramatic, hillside scenery that the last thing on my mind is checking out any local towns I can come across and seeing if I can uncover some vinyl gems for the collection. Well obviously you would be wrong about that, the prospect of a town off the beaten track having a charity shop that has just taken stock of a rare Jazz collection from a recently cleared house or some cases of weird and wonderful 60s / 70s folk recently offloaded by some grandchildren with no interest in their recently deceased relative listened to. Sadly, it can still be the case that people assume the things us vinyl hunters are after are Queen albums and they wrongly assume records they do not recognize are of little or no interest to anyone.

If you do not look you will not find, but please be aware that the days where something exciting is discovered have to be offset against the many occasions when all you will flick through are Jim Reeves and Ken Dodd albums. Nowadays there are regrettably fewer charity shops that bother stocking records and it is those aforementioned musical criminals who are a big part of that decline, them and the likes of James Last, Engelbert Humperdinck, Andy Williams or the landfill fodder of Top Of The Pops LPs and horrible budget Readers Digest compilations. You see what happens is that these collections have been dumped on charity shops in massive quantities over the years, often by record dealers who know they cannot shift them even at giveaway prices, only for them to sit taking up space on the shop shelves. Nobody buys them and eventually the management decide that they will not stock vinyl anymore because nobody buys it.

So, what I am trying to write is that, despite my best efforts, I did not find any real vinyl treasure on this particular excursion. I did find records that I am pleased to welcome back into the collection though, ones that for various reasons have disappeared or were only ever purchased on CD the first-time round. Little audio delights at the affordable end of the second-hand marketplace by names like Paul Simon, Tanita Tikaram and Elvis Costello. The rarest thing I found was a great little late sixties album by Harry Nilsson, one which features his classic cover of Fred Neil’s ‘Everybody’s Talking’; it’s lyric about “going where the weather suits my clothes” encapsulating my trip away perfectly. I have always been more of a jumpers and beanie man rather than a summer clothes wearer; I am well and truly back in the shorts now though!

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Monthly Playlists

July 2022 Playlist

Even though there is not much indication of it in my July playlist, where the only McCartney track is ‘Soily’ from ‘One Hand Clapping’ found on the Archive Series edition of Wings ‘Venus And Mars,’ Paul McCartney has been in my head again this summer. Set aside the playlist selection, all that shows is that my listening explorations have finally arrived at his Wings period, after years of paying it little or no attention believing it to be his weakest period. Still, the past twelve months have definitively re-positioned Macca in my estimation, he really is the genius that his status implies so why all the previous media derision? Well, that is mostly due to the fact that he has survived, rather than offer the musical historians a neat ark of decline or fading from view, or even an ending, he has just continued for decades writing superior, melodic pop music. And he does it without trend chasing or grasping for coolness by dampening down is natural, never-ending exuberance; he just raises those thumbs, points into the camera lense with a look of mock surprise and then plays Paul McCartney songs that rock, roll, and seduce. What else would we want him to do?

It is kind of ridiculous that I am even writing this, after all The Beatles are my favorite band and Paul is, more or less, the only member of that band still active in 2022. He also happens to be one half of the legendary songwriting partnership at the center of their success, why would listening to him even be open to question? Maybe I should get back to when I first got into the Beatles myself in the late 1980s. It was John Lennon who drew me in and to a teenager, he did have the most obvious, cutting edge, rebellious appeal. McCartney at the time had acquired a bit of a reputation for putting out schmaltzy, very middle-of-the-road solo albums and with those terminally jolly public appearances, he still somehow came over as the strait-laced, do gooder for Lennon apologists to react against. No doubt I was conveniently ignoring the fact that I unconditionally loved everything the Beatles put out and Paul McCartney is a massive part of that. In fact, dig a little deeper and by the time of ‘Abbey Road,’ it is Paul who is leading the charge, Lennon had fallen behind relying on occasional flashes of brilliance to keep his contributions afloat. This was brilliantly illustrated in last years ‘Get Back’ movie in a scene where Paul gently leans on John for more new songs; all John can do is bat it away with a vague promise that when the pressure is on, he can produce the goods. In so many ways, that film re-positioned Paul McCartney’s mis-aligned place in the story back into proper, representative order.

Still though, through the 1990s my music collection consisted of everything the Beatles released, the entire John Lennon solo output, almost the entire George Harrison solo output (truly patchy after 1974) and maybe a couple of McCartney albums. I have spent the past two decades catching up however, maybe finally accepting that Wings were more than the still hard to love ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ and the punch in an Alan Partridge joke (“Wings were very much the band the Beatles could have been”) is my last step to enlightenment? I certainly enjoyed watching his headline Glastonbury set a whole lot more than I was expecting to. Again though, it was the residue of the McCartney machine that perhaps tarnished it for me last time around in 2004. At that time, I knew one of the media presenters working at Glastonbury and they confided in me their disgust that Paul’s team had spent two days in preparation on television camera angles and just 28 minutes on sound. My reaction to that broadcast in 2004 was lukewarm, I felt it was too much of a big production job rather than a live, televised concert performance direct from a field. I did not feel that this time, even though I suspect the logistics were probably similarly under tight control, I just enjoyed the privilege of getting to watch our greatest living songwriter (Bob Dylan aside arguably) playing material from his whole six-decade career. Then he brought Dave Grohl on for his first live appearance since the death of Taylor Hawkins, then Bruce Springsteen joined in, then later Paul, thanks to vocal isolation wizardry from Peter Jackson, got to sing ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ with John Lennon once again; by that point, the emotion of it all tipped me over the edge.

This month’s playlist does feature a splattering of artists I enjoyed watching through the excellent television coverage of Glastonbury, in among the other selections. There is nothing wrong with a home festival weekend, something I have grown to quite enjoy over the years. Especially now that you have some control over the performances and stages you tune in to; gone are the days of cursing the BBC for repeatedly switching to Basement Jaxx whilst David Bowie is playing a spectacular headline set on the main stage. It is easy to forget there was once resistance to the presence of TV cameras pointing at a festival stage. I saw the Wonder Stuff headline at the Feile Festival in Ireland in 1992, during which Miles Hunt took exception to the cameras showing his band on the large video screens and got them turned off; one of numerous decisions that probably ensured his bands descent back into the indie rock margins. A decade later Mike Scott of the Waterboys sent the cameras packing from a headline set at the Cambridge Folk Festival, offering by way of explanation “I thought we were here for a gig, not a video shoot.” My first Glastonbury was actually the first year, 1994, when the festival was broadcast on TV. Saturday nights headliner, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, did not appear on Channel Four though, filming not allowed on the basis that Elvis would not “play for armchair hippies.” It should be noted that this was one of many opinions Elvis would later dial back on, his non-headline Glastonbury sets years later allowed full coverage on the BBC. Elvis Costello of course (great songwriter incidentally, also appears in the playlist) is the polar opposite to Paul McCartney in his media appearances, where he often offers forthright opinions seemingly intent on starting a fight. Could it be McCartney suffered for just being too damn agreeable? More like he was too damn good for the critics to manage, as Elvis Costello once observed, music critics are nothing more than failed musicians. Enjoy the playlist…

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Monthly Playlists

June 2022 Playlist

So, it is a bank holiday and the propaganda encouraging us all to celebrate the Queens jubilee is now a barrage. We, in the UK, have been given an extra bank holiday to help get us into a happy partying mood, everywhere I look I see people caving in under the pressure to toast this occasion, so up goes the Union Jack bunting with a sense of can’t beat them, let’s join them compliance. Or maybe these people around me really believe in this farce, maybe they are massive royalists? Well, each to their own I guess, as long as they return that respect and don’t expect me to exchange in platitudes as to how indefatigable the Queen has been for seventy years. I will mingle at some stage this weekend and check out the free beer; I went at it a bit hard last night and the supplies are already quite low. I mean, if the royals want us all to have a party in their name why don’t they dig into their deep piles of obscene wealth and give each citizen fifty quid to get more alcohol in? It isn’t getting any cheaper you know? Also, by doing that, they would show a tiny degree of awareness that there are millions of people in this country who cannot afford to lose a day’s work. Holiday pay is not a compulsory thing in the modern world of the gig economy and zero hours contracts. If this family want to endure beyond this current monarch, they need to drastically shift position, stop being the ingrowing toenail of the UK.

It is not as if I can meet the royal family on a musical level, I mean they let Brian May play amplified guitar on the roof of their house. Do I need to say more? If that poodle permed poser tried plugging in on my roof, he would be splattered on the pavement outside quicker than you can say “flash a-haaa.” Talking of freaks, one of my cultural highlights of the month has been Judd Apatow’s comedy drama from 1999-2000, ‘Freaks And Geeks’. I confess to being unforgivably unaware of Apatow’s acclaimed name in movies but, in my defense, my attention does overwhelmingly focus on music, other art forms get less attention than they deserve. Anyway, I became aware that Apatow was someone I wanted to pay a bit more attention to last year when I tried a Netflix series called ‘Love.’ That too had the Apatow name attached and I went to it because I had a thirty-minute window each day ideal for comedy drama, ‘Love’ fit the criteria. On paper it can sound a little too light, a three series portrait of two young people who fall in love. The genius was in the phenomenal number of times the writing captures a moment in loves journey we all go through. Seemingly unimportant occurrences that might only show fleetingly in your life then vanish forever forgotten, Judd Apatow bottles and writes about so believably.

One of my favorite early episodes in ‘Love’ shows the lead male character irreparably distracted at work all day, checking his phone every few minutes to see if his love interest has replied to a message. She does not and he is barely able to function as every aspect of the happiness he had been sailing on slowly ebbs away until late on, elation as the text arrives with an apology and an explanation for the delay. He is punching the air with joy as closing credits play out to Elvis Costello’s ‘Lovers Walk,’ making for a drama and music combination that has a simple, effective punch. Surely anyone who has had a meaningful relationship has lived that moment? This is what Apatow does so well, he understands the nuts and bolts that make us all tick and present them in a brilliantly entertaining way.

It has been a real pleasure to see how twenty years ago, on one of his earliest pieces ‘Freaks And Geeks,’ Judd had already tapped into those aspects of his work. The series is set in a high school around 1980 and stands as a charming meditation on the anxieties, traumas and golden moments of teenage life, without ever falling into the syrupy or judgmental. Just as with ‘Love,’ you start to believe in these characters and understand their development. The laughs are consistent and the acting is of an unbelievably high standard, especially when you consider that only twelve of the eighteen episodes made were aired before cancelation in 2000. So many of these names went on to glittering acting careers; Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Seth Rogan, Jason Segel, Becky Ann Baker, there was even a young Shia Labeouf in one episode.

So, there you have my jubilee recommendation if you are, like me, motivated to enjoy something a little more worthwhile than toasting a family largely out of work yet funded with ridiculous amounts of wealth just so they can look at the rest of us and say, “we’re better than you, now bow down.” If you want to toast someone who really has shown resilience and dedication to her craft, why not look at Nina Nastasia, who makes a more than welcome return to new music making in 2022 after too long away. Her story really is one of stoicism and endurance (for further reading on Nina’s return follow the link here ( https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/12/songwriter-nina-nastasia-abuse-grief-psychosis-john-peel-steve-albini-laura-marling ). Nina features in the monthly playlist, along with the usual 74 other selections which can all be enjoyed here:

Former Prime Minister Theresa May demonstrates the correct way for an ordinary female to stand when meeting a royal, nothing weird going on here at all is there? (Photo Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
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Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2021

Cleo Sol – Mother

Cleo Sol kick started her music career early, from the age of sixteen she was writing, honing her craft in front of showcase and talent spotting audiences as well as posting her demo tracks on the internet. She had a drive and a sharp vision for where she was headed, even adopting the name Sol, albeit as a nod to the Spanish of her mother’s side of the family, offered a clue as to the sound that is the heartbeat of her music. Her first steps though were with Dance and Rap artists like Davinche and Tinie Tempah, who featured Cleo on tracks thus ushering her into collaboration situations and developing her style. Nothing that happened back then though gave much of a hint that a stunning, heavy hitting, Soul opera such as this LP, ‘Mother,’ would land further down the line. Talk about fully realizing an artist’s potential, this album is a monster of a statement. A modern Soul masterpiece that references many classic retro tropes, Donny Hathaway piano balladry, Aretha Franklin testimony and Gospel and yet it does not play like the repro work of a vintage obsessive for one second; no, this album sounds like it was made and absolutely belongs in 2021, a record for today.

As an artist Cleo is a brilliant fusion of the multicultural musical melting pot she grew up around in Ladbroke Grove. So much was written over the last five years about the London Jazz scene that it is easy to overlook that London is the epicenter of all music fusions, there is not one sound that defines the city. Cleo had genuinely eclectic records around her as a child thanks to her parents tastes in Soul, Reggae, Latin and Jazz; add to that her own affection for the Pop sounds around the Millennium and you have an idea where this young girl, with a karaoke machine to sing to her family, was heading musically. But then that in itself is maybe not unlike hundreds of other London kids with a taste for performing, perhaps the thing that pushes Cleo ahead of the pack is that ear for music she undoubtedly demonstrates on ‘Mother.’ A gift that as a youngster steered her towards a deep and fundamentally inspiring affection for Stevie Wonder’s ‘Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing,’ an appreciation revealing a maturity to her musical brain highlighting why an album length musical statement such as this was a likely part of her arsenal.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Stevie Wonder himself had released this album in the 21st century, critics would have been lining up to praise the LP as an astounding return to the rich vein of form he enjoyed in his early seventies’ heyday. Do I detect a nod to ‘He’s Misstra Know It All’ in the opening riff to ‘Music’? Well, if I do it is only a launchpad from which Cleo dives deep into her own wonderous world. It is not simply that ‘Mother’ maintains a thread throughout twelve strong tracks, or that there is pure soul in Cleo’s singing; the genius is in the tiny details weaved into this tapestry. The baby noises buried in the backdrop of ‘We Need You’ and the way that tune can melt through your skin like the golden dawn of your life, then judder your head with a brief bass led interval. The music flows track to track and the shifts in tempo sail naturally. But they are very real changes, the contrasts exist in each song. Listen to ‘23’, a tune with a real bass driven bounce and a breezy lightness in tone, but then the swirling voices in that chorus are singing “you nearly broke me down”. In nearly eight minutes, ‘Build Me Up’ progresses from tender reflection, gospel style elevation and vulnerable exaltation before literally speeding up as a deep bass groove leads us back to the sunshine, magical stuff. This album is an essential slice of young and modern Soul music; a raw yet gorgeous meditation on relationships, life and motherhood delivered straight from the heart of an artist with music in her DNA. I cannot overstate how great this is.

Get a vinyl pressing of this album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/20965663-Cleo-Sol-Mother

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Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2021

Lady Blackbird – Black Acid Soul

This was arguably the most assured and fully realized breakthrough debut album of the year. Reminiscent of the way Norah Jones first landed with a classic showcase calling card record nearly two decades earlier, this does the exact same thing, firing straight out of the barrel and hitting the bullseye. Lady Blackbird, the performing name of Marley Munroe from Los Angeles, is the kind of jazz singer that infuses soul into her style the moment she steps in front of a microphone. And because she has such an incredible stimulating voice, her collaborators in producing this album (including heavy jazz hitters such as former Miles Davis pianist Deron Johnson) clearly knew that the main objective was to put that voice front and center. They pulled this task off so convincingly that any uninformed listener would be forgiven for assuming this to be cut in the classic late sixties, early seventies analogue era of recording, the work of some long-established legendary diva. The singing is all command, as the music warmly wraps itself around the vocals without ever hustling for the spotlight. At times it is quite bold in its gentle serenity, allowing the performance to breathe as an orchestral conductor would, the audio is absolutely alive with feeling.

‘Black Acid Soul’ is kind of a statement of content in itself, both as an album title and too in the wavy psychedelic lettering of the striking cover design, you are invited to expect a certain kind of content within. It is the sort of heading you could reasonably expect someone like Nina Simone to have her name associated with around the early seventies. Therefore, it is no surprise to find that there is a Simone connection in the name Lady Blackbird, paid homage to with the opening track, an arresting version of Nina’s ‘Blackbird.’ Much like the Norah Jones record I referred to, this collection to is a tastefully curated selection of song interpretations with a splattering of original material mixed in. One massive stand out number is a killer take on a little known 1967 track by Soul artist Reuben Bell called ‘It’s Not That Easy’. The piano is especially aching as it’s punctuation echoes to the sky, the organ notes tap tap tap a pensive backdrop, but the core of the performance is Munroe’s definitive delivery.

As any great singer should, Lady Blackbird makes the material she covers very much her own. When you consider that among these are selections like Tim Hardin’s ‘It’ll Never Happen Again’ and a tune best known by New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas, ‘Ruler Of My Heart,’ then to say she succeeds in putting her own stamp on them is a huge compliment. Her own creative muscles are flexed with a re-working of Bill Evans famous ‘Peace, Peace’ wherein Munroe and fellow collaborator Chris Seefried transform it into a lyrical work called ‘Fix It.’ Elsewhere, the same pair are responsible for ‘Five Feet Tall’ and, along with the superb ‘Nobody’s Sweetheart’ by Seefried alone, the new stuff does not impose any dip in quality whatsoever. Therefore, the album does contain a sheen that is both classic and new all rolled into one. The record ends in a manner that should encourage listeners to watch keenly where Lady Blackbird could progress from here on in, for the title track is an ensemble collaboration that suggests in its sonic inflexions, that there is much to come from this artist, ‘Black Acid Soul’ is a mere launchpad and Lady Blackbird is certainly worthy of our continued enthused attention.

Find a vinyl pressing of this album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/20174482-Lady-Blackbird-Black-Acid-Soul

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Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2021

Silver Synthetic – Silver Synthetic

Silver Synthetic are a New Orleans band born out of the punky fuzz excursions of that city’s Bottomfeeders. Around 2017 they found that amid the rough-edged garage creations they had built up there were other kinds of songs emerging. These tunes were crying out for a different sort of treatment, they didn’t seem to belong to the Bottomfeeders, sounding far more in need of a band with a facility for variation, refined flourishes with an ear for melody and texture. So it was that the creator of this tantalizing pile of songs, Chris Lyons, recruited long time musical cohorts and fellow Bottomfeeders to form Silver Synthetic. This self-titled debut album, the end result of their journey, is an artfully crafted jewel of Alt-Americana, timeless in its clarity and surely a record that will delight those who discover it for years to come.

Opener ‘In The Beginning’ sets its stall out with easy country-rock vibes, there is an unmistakable hint of Beachwood Sparks in the air and a curiously inviting tone to the expressive electric guitar playing. ‘Unchain Your Heart’ is pure acid-country gold, a momentum fueled rhythmic guitar chug that makes the simple plea to “unchain your heart, bring it back to me.” Its that classic killer number two album track that puts a record on the front foot with the listener, locking them in for the duration. You just cannot fail to get into this track, it is the very definition of infectious simplicity in terms of lyric and ear worm hooks but on top of that there’s still space for a burning, bending guitar solo that lifts the track even higher.

This happens again on ‘Around The Bend,’ in which the song hangs itself deliciously around lush guitar hooks, chiming folk-rock chord changes and yet another easy on the ear chorus. About two thirds of the way through there’s a gear change, everything speeds up and the track literally accelerates its way to a conclusion. Simple musical furnishings these may well be, but they are tried and tested movements that will always work when executed, as they are here, by a band that sound totally locked into each other.

The entire album is without fault, every song enhances the collective tone. ‘Chasm Killer’ is mellower but just when you think you are familiar with the formulae here, Silver Synthetic throw the heaviest of golden chord changes in the chorus and let rip more sumptuous melodic fuzz guitar ploughing. ‘Out Of The Darkness’ is appropriately urgent, reminding me a little of the way the Velvet Underground took a charge at a song like ‘Foggy Notion.’ ‘Unholy Love’ floats on a vacillating sea of summer harmonies, forlorn guitar strokes and a soft underpinning of organ; in other words, it is rather exquisite. ‘Some Of What You Want’ arrives with drive, this time the band show how seemingly straight forward arrangement ideas can result in head spinning excitement; they do this by opening with a guitar solo then breaking down to a middle-eight section that lands right before the final chorus. Finally, LP closer ‘On The Way Home’ sets the sun down on a song collection that has warmed the heart and mind of this listener and with just eight songs to thrill over, Silver Synthetic have definitely left me wanting more.

Get a vinyl pressing of this album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/18257998-Silver-Synthetic-Silver-Synthetic

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Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2021

Esther Rose – How Many Times

Esther Rose proves on this stunner of an album that design classics never age if they are presented with sincerity and conviction. By that I mean, Esther’s sound is wholly classic country in its tone, it has acoustic guitar alongside tasteful electric and steel guitar textures, rolling fiddle, easy swinging drum strokes and is topped off with a voice that is achingly pure. The songs, especially on this collection, sing of heartbreak and relationship crisis points but they are varnished with hope, resolve and a lust to kick back from these bumps in the road. Above all though and the main reason why my opening sentence carries some weight, is that these are fantastic melodic songs that have insistent repeat-play worthy pleasures. This is great songwriting, and the album serves the songs so well, with simple vintage style production breathing life, heartbreak and soul into every tune.

It became an album of 2021 for me primarily because it delivered on that ingredient that all the essential albums should; every song was a winner and across the whole set the standard did not drop. OK, it is a shorter than average album clocking in at 35 minutes, but then there are classic Beatles albums that only run to the half hour mark and essentially, this is a record that does all it needs to do within its time. Esther did make some reference to a relationship break up at the time of the release, which maybe explains why there is so much feeling and belief injected into every performance. The tune ‘Songs Remain’ is a splendid example of this as it appears to fondly yet a little mournfully, recall music indelibly connected to a partner. She sings the heavily loaded line “I am glad it was you who broke my heart, because it had to be you who broke my heart” seeming to suggest that the hurting has only served to instill those songs with greater meaning. The fade is quite poignant too, as the sound of a rocking western style tune cuts through to the backdrop of pouring down rain, like a brief audio flashback.

Even though heartbreak is a recurring theme on the record, it doesn’t ever become a song cycle that brings the listener down. Quite the opposite, even on the title track opener Esther is asking “how many times will you break my heart?” while the music is somehow celebratory, as if already picturing the day she emerges from this ordeal a stronger person. ‘Are You Out There’ acknowledges that there is no one on a New Year’s Eve or Saturday night that the singer wants to kiss, but as she asks the question the song sets out by name, there is more certainty than doubt bleeding into the enquiry. All the way the singer is finding strength even as she stands alone. This is an album that anyone determined to pick themselves up after a fall should make part of their musical life. The poppier moments, such as ‘Keeps Me Running,’ slide and swing like audio medicine that can only be administered on a honky-tonk hardwood floor while the more reflective numbers, such as the beautiful ‘When You Go,’ massage the heart strings and shower this set with the many shades of emotion tied to a relationship ending. The ace in Esther Rose’s pack though is that you do not really have to get too deep and heavy into those details to enjoy the record, these songs are just so musically satisfying, like sweet vintage sonic honey.

Get a vinyl pressing of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/19987084-Esther-Rose-How-Many-Times

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