Channelling the spirit and sound of the Delta and Appalachian Mountains, a superbly evocative, haunting, powerful new release by the Anglo-Irish Londoners with reworked traditional blues and gospel given a stirring new lease of life. With fear, death and survival a running theme, it seems appropriate that half of these tracks were originally recorded over a decade ago, the others in 2020 during the pandemic, and finally surfacing. Never overworked, sometimes stripped to the core, but still feeling fresh and authentic from start the finish, the album is packed with highlights, in particular the chilling rendition of O Death, with Alex Petty on lead vocals accompanied by ghostly male gospel-style backing. Other highlights include opener I Know I’ve Been Changed, which sets that focused intensity, with frontman Michael J Sheehy taking lead vocals. Then there’s the bluesy, warm City Of Refuge, plus the album’s one key original by Sheehy – We Get What We Deserve – the verse of which has echoes of Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On (obviously in turn a band with huge blues influences) before launching into a glorious gospel chorus. As well as these, an intimate, perfectly pictured rendition of John The Revelator, and a more hushed and confident final three with a country twist – Butcher Boy (with beautiful banjo), You Got To Take Sick And Die, and Sinnerman. Rarely has our inevitable fate felt so sweetly rendered through the prism of song. Out via Bandcamp and Juke Joint 500.
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