The objectives of this recording are merely to whisk you off
to a Texas dance hall and intoxicate you in a sound that while harking back to
a traditional era is still very much alive in today’s Lone Star juke joints
such as the Broken Spoke in Austin and Ginny’s where Watson is an institution.
His backing band, The Lone Stars, return to play on a record that is a pick n’
mix of country music subject content. This release will be lapped up by Watson
fans far and wide with drinking, love and family songs all being underpinned by
a dance-inspired mood that transmits rhythmic messages right down to your
cowboys boots.
Dale Watson has certainly not held back on the drinking
songs on this album. At the last count we had ‘I Lie When I Drink’, ‘I
Drink to Remember’, ‘I Hate to Drink
Alone’ and – yes! you start to get the picture – ‘Drink, Drink, Drink’. By the time the album closes with ‘Thanks to Tequila’, the metaphorical hangover
is starting to kick in. However this is far from a clichéd set of songs as each
one is cleverly constructed with an avalanche of bass, pedal steel and fiddle
giving this an authentic sound as you can expect from any release.
The versatile impact of this record is maximised at its core
when Watson pairs a couple of tracks designed to keep those Texas dance halls moving.
‘Quick, Quick, Slow, Slow’ and ‘Slow, Quick, Quick’ are the
appropriately named tunes that will leave any beat laden line dancing number
trailing in the distance. On the theme of dance styles, ‘We’re Going to Get Married’ is your archetypical frantic western
swing style fiddle tune while in contrast the emotional ‘Daughter’s Wedding Song’ slows things right down as every true
waltz should. Watson also takes a little detour north to replicate the Memphis
rock n’ roll sound in ‘Give Me More
Kisses’.
These fourteen original songs are set to seal Dale Watson as
one of the leading advocates of the traditional sound and, in the eyes of some,
as the true spirit of country music. Perhaps the debate on the soul of the
genre can be put on one side for a moment and fans of all strands of the music
can unite around the charismatic and inspirational Dale Watson. EL RANCHO AZUL
has put a very early marker down as the country record of the year. The
challenge is on for others to match the maestro.
I Lie When I Drink