If HELLO CRUEL WORLD ascended into heavenly status, then
BLACKBIRDS sees Gretchen Peters sanctify a slice of self-actualisation. The
success of her 2012 album presented a tricky follow up conundrum and, while
this new release is far removed from sophomore territory, the solution is no
shallow act of surface creativity. Collaboration has lubricated the path to
success and the higher the quality, the greater the impact. Those helping out
Gretchen may have shared the process but the product is ultimately owned by one
of America’s leading singer-songwriters. With the career album already in the
bank, this next phase of Gretchen’s musical journey is underway and the
defining factor appears to be canonising influence. This flourishes in every
lyric, note and bar of BLACKBIRDS.
The namedropping begins with the album contributors, starting
with the consummate twang of Jerry Douglas, moving through the talents of Jason
Isbell. Will Kimbrough and Jimmy Lafave before settling with the vocal excellence
of long-time friends, Suzy Boggus and Kim Richey. Husband Barry Walsh makes his
presence felt in the background, including co-producing duties, and will no
doubt come to the fore when the album hits the road highlighted by a UK trip in March and April. Maybe Rosanne Cash and Lucinda Williams owned the
generational airways in 2014 but Gretchen can be the anointed one in 2015.
Throughout its forty nine minute duration, the album spills into a melting pot
of perspicacious lyrics and adept musicianship held together by a roots sound
thread and liberally sprinkled with stand-out tracks which will emerge over
time.
The album’s title track,
a co-write with Ben Glover, surfaced last year on Ben’s tremendous record
ATLANTIC and apart from opening Gretchen’s new release also takes the form of
an eleventh track reprise. This final phase of the album adopts a more haunted
gothic approach to the song ‘Blackbirds’
which captures the dark side of a Louisiana crime scene. Geography continues to
form a backdrop to a record built on the concept of adjusting to the advance of
time. ‘The House on Auburn Street’ is
a cleverly crafted song based on the simple notion of re-visiting past places
of residence in our mind with Gretchen harking back to her suburban upbringing
in Pelham, New York City. Bringing things right up to date, Gretchen uses the
explicit title ‘Nashville’ to reflect
on her current hometown but the offering is far from cliché ridden and deeply
personal. We once more head back down to the Gulf region in ‘Black Ribbons’ and a track which
epitomises the splendid musical arrangements running through the record.
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| Photo by Gina Brinkley |
The duet with Jimmy LaFave on ‘When You Comin’ Home’ heralds a supreme sound and if you want a
further break from the ballad style then ‘When
All You Got Is a Hammer’ will feed your upbeat urges and rock the album as
much as you are going to get. Although as previously mentioned stand out songs
are likely to fluctuate, Gretchen at her soft tender best make an early claim especially
in the piano led beauty ‘Everything Falls
Away’ and the pin drop moment atmosphere surrounding the fond memories
echoed in ‘Jubilee’. Perhaps Gretchen’s
song writing peaks on this album in its latter stages with the wonderful line ‘ain’t
no train to take us back from where we came’ adorning a strong number ‘The Cure for the Pain’, dealing with waning
health. To mention the track ‘Pretty
Things’ last is no intended slur, especially on one which is quintessential
Gretchen Peters and firmly etched in this egalitarian album.
The accompanying press release for this record sees Gretchen
voice the ageing process from a female perspective as the driving source for
BLACKBIRDS. Layers of attention reveal the true depth of the album and much
like Gretchen’s back catalogue, sustainability is the key ingredient. Maybe mortality is a great creative inspiration and one that we can all draw on in
the utopian pursuit of self-actualisation. BLACKBIRDS projects Gretchen Peters
in top mode once again and lays out a newly sustained path of marvellous
musical mystique.
www.gretchenpeters.com
The following track is sampled on American Songwriter