Category Archives: Fruit Tree Records Of The Year

Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Molly Tuttle & The Golden Highway – Crooked Tree

‘Crooked Tree’ is the record where Molly Tuttle goes full tilt into classic American Bluegrass, a fact which might raise concern that a once promising songwriter is running low on ideas, turning to the safety zone of tradition. Nothing could be further from the truth though because Tuttle has made the essential Bluegrass release of the year, thanks to her fresh approach from a songwriter’s perspective. I write a lot about folk music and one of the things that I struggle with in that genre is overly respectful representation of centuries old material. I believe that it is essential to learn and be inspired by music of the past, but if you are going to create something new it still must have a spark of emotional resonance in the present-day world you live in. Molly Tuttle understands this and has made a wonderful album in which the backbone is the pile of new song ideas she had stacking up.

Having committed to the Bluegrass sound though, she chose well in attacking it with authenticity. To that end, the record was produced with as many musicians in the room at the same time as possible, playing live and capturing the kind of raw and real sound that Bill Monroe would have been proud of. It is essentially a collaborative genre too and so there is space in this music for players and pickers who want to join in, just as there are an abundance of big-name guest appearances throughout. Margo Price is an ideal foil on the fast picking ‘Flatland Girl’, The Old Crow Medicine Show bring their trademark back porch homely charm to ‘Big Backyard’ whilst Gillian Welch seems suitably bow-legged and joyous on ‘Side Saddle’.

That the album is credited to Molly Tuttle & The Golden Highway feels appropriate too, even though Molly’s song writing is the basis for these tunes they are clearly shook into life by the loose and celebratory ensemble playing. In true folk tradition there are songs that sound familiar from vintage LP’s but are sufficiently deconstructed and re-assembled to legitimately stand as new pieces of work. ‘Dooley’s Farm’ for example might be familiar to some as a traditional song played by the Dillard’s but this, as does everything here, has enough of Molly’s individualistic touch to make it her own. That she can head down this Country road and take this music on a wholly relevant modern excursion will hopefully inspire continuation on this stimulating route. Stand out tune ‘Castilleja’, with it’s fast picking, bitter-sweet yearning melody should be enough to justify that direction. But then the best artists are hard to predict, they follow where the music takes them and you sense that Molly Tuttle is of that breed. Not one to worry about meeting expectations or fitting in, as she sings herself on the title track, “I’d rather be a crooked tree”.

Buy a vinyl copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/23206826-Molly-Tuttle-2-Golden-Highway-Crooked-Tree

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Loudon Wainwright III – Lifetime Achievement

Much like the man he was compared to early in his career, Bob Dylan, Loudon Wainwright III composes new music these days in full awareness of his age. He even opens this fine album with that classic acoustic guitar and harmonica combination but, where Dylan is more abstract in his musings, Loudon cannot help but flex his humour muscles even when tackling potentially difficult subjects. It has been this way with Loudon over the course of a fifty-plus year recording career, the tendency to balance personal life confessionals with dry wit evident on the early song ‘Rufus Is A Tit-Man,’ a meditation on fatherhood with a title that grabbed wry attention. Everything remains intact in 2022 as he reflects his own longevity and the mysteries of the unknowable answers on ‘Lifetime Achievement’. The remarkable thing is how he can still produce the goods to as high a standard as ever today, this is easily up there among Loudon’s essential records.

The overall effect of the heavyweight ponderings and the laughs is stunning, with lines that reference farting whenever he sneezes and how a family vacation should be a holiday from your closest family, (sample lyric “I’m gonna leave the fucking family at home”, the song ends with a Jean Paul Sartre quote “hell is other people”) balancing anxieties like the uncertainty at your time of passing in ‘How Old Is 75?’. When you consider that the lyrics inform us of his own fathers passing was at the age of 62 whilst his mother made it to 74, you must accept this is far from glib, he really is diving into these thoughts. He never stays long in a dark place though, check the light hearted wisdom imparted on closer ‘Fun And Free’ where memories of lawn mowing as a youngster are awoken by the same activity today with a carefree zest that suggests we “spend life like it’s a spree, ‘cause it’s one and done, that’s it son, so do it for fun and free”. Loudon sings with universal understanding about the biggest personal traumas in life, making you smile and prompting a tear with equal frequency, he remains a rare kind of talent.

Buy a copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/24372683-Loudon-Wainwright-III-Lifetime-Achievement

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Andrew Bird – Inside Problems

Having initially played in the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Kevin O’Donnell’s Quality Six then his own Bowl Of Fire, Andrew Bird continued in the 2000’s to gain solo attention as the guy with an act based around technical wizardry. He played multiple instruments, building up loops and layering them in a way that was impressive in its execution, especially as Bird was no mere strummer on guitar, he had a far more refined construction in texture and rhythm. He played guitar and banjo in the pickers style, conjuring up lots of intricacy in the moods, his violin playing was extremely expressive and he possessed some appealing individualist quirks such as a tendency to add nuance with whistled segments. Still, the problem with a performer like that is the technique can often be more attention grabbing than the music.

However, over the last ten years particularly, this has not been the case with Andrew Bird. For me it was around the release of 2012’s ‘Break It Yourself’ that he took his songwriting to another level and since has created some quite wonderful records and fine tuned his methods to a fine grain. The songs have soul, the music is always melodically sensational, lyrically there is a delight in both rhyme play and wit as occasionally a direct punch to the heart will pin you to your seat. He generally sticks to his preferred palate of instruments but they are used to their fullest possible range, the guitars and banjos provide both groove, sonic punctuation and flare while the violin playing can sound anything from mournful in a tender solo, savage when attacked with grated aggression or as lifting and lilting as an orchestra when the song demands. And he still has a pleasing habit of breaking off from singing to add an aching whistle here and there too.

This years ‘Inside Problems’ album emphatically continues this unfolding catalogue with one of his most essential collections yet. These are songs that have been composed diligently and fully realized, they sit together as a full record so well. Highlights beam out from every track such as the euphoric “oh my god I just got born” conclusion to the title song or the shuffling singalong hooks in ‘Lone Didion.’ The stasis sung of in ‘Fixed Positions’ sounds terminal at the start, especially in tone, but the issue is lightened a touch with a line like “if you’re screwing up your face won’t it always stay that way” before progressing, via a rather chirpy whistle, to a stirring climax searching for the resolve to break said fixed positions. During ‘Eight’ there is a heavenly break down where a repetition of plucked, echoing strings lay a bedrock for Andrew to cut loose on the violin with a solo improvisation that is both dramatic and haunting. But in the end, experience this album from start to finish as you should and you will find your own hidden treasures, for the music of Andrew Bird has them waiting for you in droves.

Buy a vinyl copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/23483408-Andrew-Bird-Inside-Problems

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Van Morrison – What’s It Gonna Take?

Van Morrison is on fire at the moment, there is something in the urgency that his recordings possess that suggest an artist both in tune with the sounds that feed his soul and assured at his own strengths as a performer. A legend who flips a middle finger to categorization, his sound has always been a roots-based seed feeding from the heart of R&B, Soul, Jazz, Folk, Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll which, when watered into full bloom, delivers instantly identifiable Van Morrison sound thanks to that deep, stirring voice. There are times on this album when he fuses all those inspirations, all that rolling and tumbling heartbeat of the mid twentieth century Western music culture explosion, in the most breath-taking fashion. ‘Money From America’ is one such example, with its wild mercury organ funk, pressure cooker blues guitar hooks and glass raising bar room testifying, this is impossible not to get swept up by. ‘Nervous Breakdown’ has a classic feel with its minute long build up and Van the bandleader toasting the arrival of each instrument. Same too with ‘Not Seeking Approval,’ which has some of the most sultry, soulful licks Van has ever committed to round wax. But then he tells us in that same song “they say my name is muck” and that fact too is hard to argue against, Van is making this beautifully matured music to a chorus of indifference in some quarters thanks to the uncompromising, often controversial opinions he has been putting out since 2020.

Right from the opening track ‘Dangerous’ he is pounding his fist reiterating that he has been asking for evidence for over a year. So clearly, this raises immediately the issue of Van’s well covered forthright opinions about Covid, vaccinations and the recurring lockdown measures we all endured. Now personally speaking, I took the governments data on face value, got myself fully vaccinated and complied with all lockdown regulations. However, if Van has a more suspicious position on all this, got himself wound up in frustration by events and is now using that anger to fire up his music making I can live with that. I do not need to agree with everything he says and am not ashamed to say that there are times on this record where his protestations strike a chord. On ‘What’s It Gonna Take?’ he sings “government doesn’t represent us at all” and in a time where striking working classes are portrayed as greedy by the Downing Street elite I cannot argue against Van’s statement. Van is nailing his colours to the mast and flying the flag for not sitting on the fence, no bad thing in my opinion and trying to paint him as a lunatic conspiracy theorist is way too reductive. He just sounds hungry, determined to still live life to the full and I admire that do not give a crap attitude. Furthermore, is this really such a different Van to the one championed in the past?

Also, a track like ‘Can’t Go On This Way,’ which vents exasperation at the cabin fever induced by extended lockdown periods, surely just put into song a feeling that millions were going through. OK so Van runs the risk of sounding like an over pampered star unaware of his own good fortune, but he is just reflecting a feeling many experienced. If it is in his nature to throw suspicion around and question people when he feels boxed in like this, so what? That is who he is, that is the person responsible for a good deal more classic albums than the average artist can boast in a career and he does what he does with all imperfections and character failings part of the package. In fact, it is when a performer starts ironing out the less refined, palatable aspects of their being, creates with a thought to what the public might approve of rather than honestly articulating, that they start to lose it. I may not find myself in a mutual agreement society if I were sat down with Van Morrison, but I dare say the same would apply to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell or anyone I have held in high esteem for decades. The only thing that should matter is that Van Morrison, in 2022, is still making some of the most vital, inspired and focused music of his extensive career and I can say sincerely, ‘What’s It Gonna Take?’ is one of his great albums.

Buy a vinyl copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/23302058-Van-Morrison-Whats-It-Gonna-Take

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Kokoroko – Could We Be More

Like many others, for me it was the 2018 album ‘We Out Here’ that alerted me to the delights of Kokoroko. That album was a collaborative effort recorded over three days by the various groups and collectives who, at the time, were being lauded as the exciting new heartbeat of jazz music to be found in London. Myriad amounts of the players were involved with many of the other bands on the roster, in fact the intermingling was pretty hard to keep up with at first, but over the past five years a raft of the musicians rose to the kind of wider prominence they deserve. The two most prominent members of Kokoroko were flugelhorn player Sheila Maurice-Grey and especially saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi who has enjoyed an ever-increasing profile in part, but not only, thanks to her wonderful work within the SEED Ensemble.

It could be down to snowballing opportunities to create within other set-ups that led to us waiting until 2022 for the first Kokoroko album. It says something of the esteem in which their contribution to ‘We Out Here’ was held, that expectation for this debut never ebbed away over four years, but then ‘Abusey Junction’ with its reported forty-nine million YouTube plays really was the outstanding track on that double record. It somehow encapsulated all that was riveting about the whole scene; the multiculturalism, the inclusiveness and the dedication to creating something magical in an improvisational space. That they could do this and end up with music that does not sound bland, repetitive or indulgent speaks to the proficiency of their musicianship.

The thing is though, for all the talk of the London Jazz Scene and the elongated back story of how the record came to be, when you get to the music it comes down to the simple fact that there are great tunes to be found here. ‘Age Of Ascent’ is a fine example, the rhythm has a nice little kick to it for sure, the electronic keys and vibes are, appropriately given the title, elevatory but the tune played on that saxophone and trumpet is simply lush. It sounds like a vintage jazz classic, a melody straight from the Blue Note or Prestige vault, but no, this is the central sound of Kokoroko and the reason why this album was so anticipated. Likewise, ‘Dide O’ which is carried by some Afrobeat guitar textures and divided by some lush vocal chapters, again it is those horn motions that take the tune into the realms of the celestial. It is thanks to Kokoroko and their growing number of allies that jazz music can legitimately claim, in 2022, to be the most vital and progressive music of modern times. As the band so rightly sing themselves, “something’s going on, something’s happening now.”

Buy a vinyl copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/24099788-Kokoroko-Could-We-Be-More

https://open.spotify.com/album/48e8LFqiVUxumlXDIVyNYl?si=BRqQh5YKTxOYDb1KFJyJ8A

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Erin Rae – Lighten Up

I have heard many albums over the years that reach for that golden Laurel Canyon sound of the late sixties. It evokes such specific imagery, so many wide chasms of warm open aired relaxed vibes, good time feelings that stir your soul and retrieve by proxy memories of sun-drenched harmonious times. What defines that sound is less specific, but it has basic, singer-songwriter values with lush acoustics, fuzzy guitar embellishments, a little gentle rhythm, harmony and sunshine, the outdoor space for the music to breathe is pretty vital too. But the thing that so many artists have missed out over the years, something which in absence can make a Laurel Canyon sounding album quite a dull affair, is great songwriting. And that is where Erin Rae has succeeded with her 2022 sophomore album, arriving three years after her debut ‘Putting On Airs’, for she has delivered an album that is positively rammed with great songs.

For evidence of this just listen to one of the many stand out tracks, ‘California Belongs To You’; decorated as it is with desolate mountain range guitar solos, propelled as it is by a moving shuffling rhythm, descend as the chorus does in an aching motion, it is all mere magic dust sprinkled over a superb turning away song, a piece that recognizes how a location can remain indelibly linked to a person you associate it with. Within the lyrics mentioning sun tans and the sea is an instant reference point in which, with the spot-on contributions of Erin’s collaborators of this album, the sound and classic Laurel Canyon era are strikingly evoked. This is largely thanks to producer Jonathan Wilson, a purveyor of expansive psychedelic country himself with much kudos as a facilitator, he really knew how to find the sonic scenes that these tunes needed to flourish in.

Listen to ‘Cosmic Sigh,’ a floating gem that is as accurately titled as a rock song using the word ‘rock’ in its title, here the tune gently awakens to a panorama of strings and gorgeous widescreen production. The range of textures throughout marry up so well with Erin’s own assessment that this record represents her “accepting her humanness.” She is certainly spreading her wings in composition and feeling confident enough to take the songs in whatever musical direction the seed of inspiration dictates. Consequently, we get delightful shifts in tone, like in the way ‘Cosmic Sigh’ is followed by the pumping country-pop feelgood triumph that is ‘Modern Woman,’ a great number that punches out at ideas of womanhood past their sell by date, “come see a modern woman” indeed.

Kevin Morby shows up to share the vocals on ‘Can’t See Stars,’ very much a heavy hitter in the Americana scene over the past ten years and not one to unquestioningly put his name to just anything, his stoned-sounding presence lends a cool grounded counterpoint to a tune looking towards the sky. Elsewhere the presence of names like Jake Blanton and Drew Erickson provides Erin with the tools to fully explore these songs and because they are such fully formed compositions, everyone involved seems to up their game for the good of the songs. It results in an album that has remained one of the records of the year thanks to its consistency, the absence of weak links and the eloquence in the playing and expression. Final words should go to Erin Rae herself, who claims “this one is about blossoming, opening up and living a little more in the present moment. Accepting what it is to be human.” ‘Lighten Up’ invites the listener to take time, breathe deep and listen; the pay back for making that commitment is one of the standout cosmic American music collections of the year.

Buy a vinyl copy of ‘Lighten Up’ here: https://www.discogs.com/release/22035103-Erin-Rae-Lighten-Up

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Black Flower – Magma

Sometimes albums just stand out from the crowd immediately and for me, ‘Magma’ was one of those. I knew nothing of Black Flower when I chanced upon this earlier in 2022 but have since learned that the band were formed in 2014 as another branch of many projects that explore the realms of Jazz and experimental by the various musicians involved. This particular collective brings elements of Ethiopian Jazz, seemingly as a launch pad, to dive headlong into territories that are bold and occasionally undiscovered. That there are soulful touches to the playing is certain, but you can also hear that these musicians have listened to Rock and played in more conventional song-based set-ups previously too. In fact, it may have been these reference points that pulled me in, I certainly got the sense that I was listening to something familiar, but which was heading down wholly unfamiliar tracks. This is in part down to the Ethiopian scales they are working around, subtly different to a Blues scale recognizable to Rock music ears. But it is surely also thanks to the intuitive and inventive improvisations that rise out of Black Flower’s creative process.

This group of boundary defying musicians are one of the finest cultural happenings to be found in Belgium right now. A Jazz-Fusion group in the truest sense; the band are fronted by Nathan Deams, whose lead instruments on this album are alto and baritone saxophone as well as an assortment of rim-blown flutes. He is also the man responsible for the core of the compositions although the writing on this record is co-credited thanks to the jamming element of creation that develops these pieces into such epic excursions. Second in line in terms of writing is Jon Birdsong, credited as playing cornet, cornetto and seashells his CV includes Beck, Calexico and dEUS. The band are fleshed out with Simon Segers on drums, Filip Vandebril, whose list of past credits includes work with Lee Perry, on bass and Karel Cuelenaere on organ and clavinet. It is arguably Karel’s playing that informs a large part of the tone on ‘Magma,’ supplying as he does some especially haunting segments of very vintage sounding keyboard progressions.

The sound of ‘Magma’ as a whole is rather like a trek across a darkened, desolate landscape. Nothing is in plain sight but still you can sense the life surrounding you, hidden but there in the rustle of the trees and in the soft texture of the ground beneath, there is a pulse and a rumbling not too far from the surface. You feel at any moment the place could erupt and occasionally it does but mostly, Black Flower hold the spell in that space between spark and ignition. That is certainly how the title track plays out, underneath the menacing throb we hear spacey keys and highwire sax but just when you think it is going to blow, we take a left turn down a sweet, melodic cul-de-sac before the tension resumes. What follows for the remaining 45 minutes is similarly extreme and exhilarating, in ‘The Light’ the flute sounds that rise up periodically are cracks of light that inject the jazz grooves, pounding deep slumbering rhythms and infectiously hypnotic repetition with life. In other places the swirling keys submerge you in a psychedelic-like place of colour and wonder. There is one vocal on the album, a seductive hook line on ‘Morning In The Jungle’ sung by Meskerem Mees in between a childlike spoken section that brings real illumination to the piece. This deep dive into a forest of culturally open, musically timeless sounds is a ride I urge you to take; it encapsulates just why Jazz is both the most open-minded and inclusively inviting of all styles that flourish with limitless possibility in 2022.

Order a vinyl copy of ‘Magma’ here: https://www.discogs.com/master/2485099-Black-Flower-Magma

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Hurray For The Riff Raff – Life On Earth

Hurray For The Riff Raff sure have evolved from that earthy, western swinging country/folk ensemble they arrived as. Over the past decade what we may have thought they were dropped away, leaving us with a clearer sense of what the band really are; a vehicle for the classy, classic songwriting and creative visions of Alynda Segarra. There is virtually nothing folky or rootsy about them nowadays but what they are instead is a band that punches with clarity and a proper pop clout. Back when I first came across them Alynda wore her admiration for John Lennon on her sleeve and it clearly ran deep for, she has injected two key practices from the man into her own work. Firstly, to respect the music, following her muse and writing from the heart. Secondly, she has learned that when imparting hard facts or reflecting the harsher realities of life around her, the message is far more likely to be heard if it is wrapped in a memorable, singable tune.

‘Life On Earth’ is firstly an album that (with descriptive license held in hand a little for what does this mean in 2022 anyway?) is a finely produced pop record. These are all great, melodic songs polished into shape with a pure electronic pop/rock sheen and only marginally embellished with any old-school acoustic or rawer aesthetics. Then on top of that is Alynda’s voice, an instrument that remains as soothing and soulful as a Karen Carpenter vocal and certainly something that lends her material a font through which all the emotional depth and nuance can shine. There is nothing on this record that could not play on daytime commercial radio, it is music that invites everyone in and I am certain that those who accept the invite will be nourished with a sweet dose of audio goodness that endures thanks to both the songs and the deep lyrics.

I do not mean deep as in impenetrable, just real, these are songs born out of living life on earth in modern times and a reaction to current world events. Problems surrounding US immigration are high among Segarra’s thoughts and with good reason, she got her hands dirty between this and the last album visiting an immigration detention centre in Louisiana, singing in the voice of one of the detainees on ‘Precious Cargo,’ movingly cutting right to the cruelty and inhumanity of immigrant plight. The environment and climate are at the forefront too as ‘Rhododendron’ seemingly rejoices in the natural world Alynda finds herself surrounded by. There are apparent personal moments too, the most biting being ‘Saga’ which seems to describe a human spirit building inner strength in its determination to eventually break out of an abusive relationship; “I don’t want this to be the saga of my life.” A similar feeling is expressed on opener ‘Wolves’ with the refrain “run babe you know how to run” but no matter who was originally in the mind of the writer, in times like these wonderful records like ‘Life On Earth’ are there to help us all, they point a way forward whilst putting an arm around our shoulders.

Buy a vinyl copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/22215319-Hurray-For-The-Riff-Raff-Life-On-Earth

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Sharron Kraus – KIN

I first listened to this collection of psych-folk jewels by Sharron Kraus, on one of the first truly autumnal mornings of the year. The sharp bite of the cold, the dampness of the ground, the stillness in the air around the crisp bright sun somehow seems the optimum environment to be enjoying this music. Sharron’s music, which of late has worn a delightful immediacy, simultaneously is at one with the chill in the air whilst it wraps the listener up in warmth. How she casts this spell I would not wish to deconstruct; it is there in the magical way her singing and more identifiably folky tunesmithery is juxtaposed to dissonant electronica and progressive sounding organs, recorders and synths, the effect is both soothing and unsettling.

That the album ‘Kin’ should exude an air of wide-open space and a sense of isolation could be thanks to it being largely written in response to the pandemic. There is an ongoing concern with human interaction and relations throughout as well as a keen awareness of the natural world. It seems to feel, as so many of us did two years ago, that there is a darkness to denial of person-to-person contact, with uncertain resumption, rather than enjoying solitude as a choice. Still, the absence of that connection did also prompt reflective appreciation of the good in human nature; ‘Kin’ concludes with some light breaking through during the song ‘A Kind Kind (Of Human).’ A funereal hymn-like piece that really does wash the face of the album and recognise that when “in a tight squeeze we pull together it seems.”

The album opens with strong echoes of early Steeleye Span on ‘Tell Me Death,’ a powerful song that asks why the narrator’s closest loved ones were all taken too soon but comes back with the tough answer, they just were. The message is sometimes there are no answers to the question “why”? You can only live in the present moment, so do not waste your season in the sun asking too much of the past or looking too far forward. Nevertheless try, as Kraus sings in this song, to hold on to some hope; “maybe I’ll live for long enough to find joy again.” Sharron does have previous for finding the hardest answers to the biggest questions, but throughout these songs she refuses to shy away from reflecting on “the ways we hurt.” During a song of the same name, roaming bass guitar patterns by Neal Heppleston and the dramatic drum punctuations of Guy Whittaker superbly help illustrate these bruises.

Sharron’s voice remains an instrument of pure, lush honey even while things get heavy, heavy. ‘Do It Yourself’ is like the bleak distant cousin of Paul Simon’s ‘I Am A Rock.’ But where Simon was determined to find strength in his loneliness, Kraus is positively drowning in the blackness of it all as she concludes “no losses, no ties, no tears shed when you die.” I love the way during ‘The Trees Keep On Growing’ Sharron observes that the still very much alive natural world was clearly not missing the human race, all shut away in their houses, as it wonders “do the sparrows ask where we’ve gone? Do the blackbirds mourn us?” The worst days of the pandemic may now be over but still in 2022, ‘Kin’ is an album perfectly weighted for the hard winter months in front of us, stirring us to feel the highs and the hurt essential to human existence. This is both a deeply resonating and serenely tranquil album offering both hope and clarity to the turbulence crashing around us, a quite beautiful piece of work.

Buy a vinyl copy of the album here: https://sharronkraus.bandcamp.com/album/k-i-n

Standard
Fruit Tree Records Of The Year, Records of 2022

Leyla McCalla – Breaking The Thermometer

One of the outstanding releases of the year and one that is truly like no other, a song cycle that looks at a subject matter in depth and weaves a whole records worth of material around that theme. Every song here belongs specifically to this project, one that began after Leyla McCalla was given a composition commission from Duke University in North Carolina. The focus of the new work was to be Radio Haiti, a broadcaster from the Caribbean country with a reputation for uncovering political corruption whose journalists had been repaid with persecutory, torturous, sometimes fatal retaliations or expulsion. Leyla’s approach to this was not to document incidents in a dry chronological manner, instead this piece fizzes with life because she uses the seed of the idea as a blank canvas on which to take a deep dive into Haitian music culture in a quest for deeper understanding.

Part of this immersion is the vocals, which she primarily sings in Haitian Creole, the French based dialect of the country’s natives. It is also in the ambience of the sound, Leyla has made her mark previously as a superb purveyor of traditional sounding American folk with old time blues roots poking through that lend her work a surefire emotional punch, but on ‘Breaking The Thermometer’ there are also underlying textures of sunshine and Tropicalia as enticing African and Spanish rhythms rise and fade throughout. McCalla brings personal memory to the table too, especially in a stunning cover of ‘You Don’t Know Me’ by formerly exiled Brazilian songwriter Caetano Veloso, someone whose music she recalled from childhood and maybe sowed the seed for the sounds further explored here. Across the whole album, vintage clips of voices on old Haiti Radio broadcasts bring both a sense of history to the presentation and a glue to the whole song suite.

And yet, amidst all the found sound, voice samples and short instrumental passages that knit the work together, when we land on the conventional songs every single one of them is a highlight. ‘La Bal est Fini’ is a rousing number, propelled by a heavy shuffling rhythm and an unrelenting banjo pulse, elevating to the stars with Leyla’s impassioned singing on the chorus. The song ‘Vini We’ is simply beautiful, Leyla oozing with sincerity and compassion when she sings the words “they wonder why I love you, they wonder how can this be. I’m here for you like you’re here for me”. Underneath it all you see, Leyla McCalla is fast emerging as one of the essential songwriters performing in the folk and roots arena, this album simply underlines the fact.

Buy a vinyl copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/23742284-Leyla-McCalla-Breaking-The-Thermometer

Standard