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On her second outing as a solo-billed artist Angela Perley invites all-comers to join her on a rambling roam down a song-laden highway littered with used instruments, discarded lyric notebooks and scattered dreams. TURN ME LOOSE rummages through this debris, pieces it together and transforms it into an esteemed road companion. This ten-strong collection of original tunes dresses in garments picked from rock, country and Americana thrift stores before strutting proudly down a dusty catwalk with music shining from the head, heart and soul.
From its Ohio base the music travels further than highways and interstates reaching the autobahns and motorways. From sharing stages with the likes of Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams, Perley thrives in an ambassadorial role twisting her take of homeland inspired sounds into an international entity. Seasoned listeners will take their pick of associates, easily sourced from decades of bands plugging in and turning their music into a road weary feast. If you like your country spiced with pedal steel then parts will scratch the itch, alternatively a desire for more straightforward roots rock threads through the release. Amongst the worn imagery sparkles a gem of a vocalist and songs weaving right into likable territory.
Of course, the proverbial cherry would be Angela Perley gracing the lanes, roads and motorways of the Motherland (the latter with assumed roots) bringing her sound and style into the midst of wannabe drifters, likely more of mind than body. The fit would be perfect and getting European releases puts the ball on the tee.
Terminating at the aching stop of the gently strummed 'Wreck Me' brings a tumultuous journey to a close, one that speeds off to a flying start with the uber-melodious 'Plug Me In'. Immediately the crux of the title features in the lyrics. In a perfect adjective match, 'Star Dreamer' and ethereal elope into eternity awash with sixties vibes. A rockier beat escorts us through 'Here for You' with its kind sentiment. By now the band are in full flow with instrumental pieces taking root including a lengthy playout. 'Ripple' by name and nature as we head towards the album middle, which is reached with the spritely 'Get Enough' full of jangly guitars firing amidst notable breaks and turns.
The line 'social alligator' catches the ear early in 'Do it For You', another one of the album's toe-tapping beat-infused rollers. 'Praying for Daylight' drinks from a country fountain, and if you approach the record from such an angle this could be the moment the effect pops. 'Near You' bubbles in the stirring water of sleepy nostalgia as the album seemingly matures in a haze of wobbly pedal steel. 'Holding On' takes you almost to the finishing line, now fully versed in the impressive capabilities of Angela Perley to not only nail a style, but successfully transmit it to casual observers.
TURN ME LOOSE is a perfect example of supremely cultivated simplicity. The input is a collective amass of skill and guile. The output is effortless and comfortably reassuring. Now for Angela Perley to raise her prominence on this waiting international stage. Not exactly vacant but reserving a space for her.
