For the second time in
three albums I’ve rolled an Ana Egge album. What are the odds of this
happening, you ask? Well, there were three Ana Egge albums in the “new to me”
section of my CD shelves, out of 91 albums total. So the odds of getting one
the first time would be 1/30.3. On the second roll, there would only be two
left out of 90 albums, so 1/45. So you multiply 30.3 x 45 and you get…1 in
1,363.5. I think that’s how it works.
Anyway, math isn’t
nearly as fun as music, so let’s move on.
Disc 1347 is…Bad Blood
Year of Release: 2011
What’s up with the
Cover?
Ana Egge sports a funky jacket that I would totally buy for myself if given the
chance. Check out that sleeve detail! Sure, it’s a bit big on her, but still a significant
improvement over the tank top featured on “Road to My Love” (reviewed back at
Disc 1302).
Egge is also standing in the middle of the road, but it looks like a low
traffic area, so it’s probably low risk.
How I Came to Know
It: I just talked about this (discovered
via Alberta folk singer Matt Patershuk, etc. – go look it up). In the specific
case of “Bad Blood” I broke down and ordered it through Amazon. I am not proud
of this. It was hard to find, sure, but I regret not buying it through her Bandcamp
site.
How It Stacks Up: I have four Ana Egge
albums and “Bad Blood” comes in at #2, edging out “Road to My Love”.
Ratings: 4 stars
Ana Egge is a contemporary folk musician, but there
is a lot of movement and crossover with that generic designation. Over her
career she has taken full advantage of this range, and it’s a good thing; if
she didn’t, I’d have a lot less to say so soon after reviewing “Lazy Days”.
“Lazy Days” is a very different record from “Bad
Blood.” The former is a moody bit of pastoral whimsy, whereas the latter is a
mix of gritty folk tales, with a noticeable snarl of rock and roll guitar
around the edges.
Part of this comes from the influence of the
record’s producer, Steve Earle. Earle does a great job of giving the record a
bit of jump and attitude, balancing off nicely against Egge’s natural sweet
vocal style. She was already plenty tough, but Earle brings an extra layer of
grit out of her performance. He also brings along the talents of the Dukes (and
also the Duchesses, as this is from a happier time in his life, when he was
still with fellow folkster Allison Moorer).
Another difference is that “Lazy Days” was all
covers, while Egge writes almost all these songs. The single exception is Charlie
Rich’s “There Won’t Be Anymore.” It is solid enough, although I prefer
the original and it felt a bit out of place. Sure, it’s romantically dark, but
this record gets its dark on for real.
The album’s best moments feature Egge’s
original compositions. She is a gifted songwriter both melodically and
lyrically. “Bad Blood” is an apt title for the record, which explores a lot of
dark characters and subjects. She wisely lets a bit of the Duke and Duchess
grit sneak into these songs, but not so much to take away from the natural
beauty of her vocals.
In fact, a couple of the better tracks, “Hole
in Your Halo” and “Evil” both benefit from a stripped-down approach
that makes their topics all the more haunting.
“Hole in Your Halo” is the story of a
person who’s made a litany of bad choices, and is now sitting in prison, and running
out of friends. Egge’s narrator is one of the few left, and it’s clear she has
no answers:
“Like a storm brewin’ in an empty
room
I stopped trying to keep my eye
on you
Speak of the devil and he will
come
Up inside the minds of the ones
you love.”
On “Evil” she follows the theme deeper,
starting with callous murder, ending in the threat of an impending rape. Throughout
the chorus asks why, and finds no answers:
“Evil simple as a rose
Evil by any other name
Evil simple as a rose.”
Egge also takes a turn at some American folklore.
“Silver Heels” reinvents the story of the dancer of the same name: a Colorado
legend of the old west. Egge sets the story instead at the end of the First World
War, and swaps in influenza for smallpox. The song churns along with an easy
gallop that is as good as anything similar Steve Earle ever wrote, which is saying
something. While I’ve already quoted Egge twice, a record this consistently good
demands at least one more:
“Waitin’ outside in the powder of
the moonlight
Across the ocean wide the boys
from the front line
And the Spanish flu broke out
like a gunfight.”
That is some delicious stuff, heavy with
ominous portents of death, as a community fears the moon, and survives the war,
only to be cut down by simple illness.
Egge ends on a high note, which is not
uncommon on depressing and death-ridden records like this. “Your Voice Convinces
Me” is a return to hope and promise, with an anthemic rise that despite all
the violence, murder and catastrophe you’ve been reveling in up to this point, suggests
things will be OK. Or if not OK, at least we’ll bear it together.
“Bad Blood” combines rough and sweet in just
the right measure and as the album’s title suggests, there will be bleeding.
Some of it out in the open, and some internal to the soul, but all of it combining
to make a great record full of dark and beautiful music.
Best tracks: Hole In Your Halo, Bad Blood, Evil, Shadow Fall, Silver
Heels, Your Voice Convinces Me
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