Superb folk-blues.
Singer-songwriter Louise Taylor’s sixth record is released after a long pause, because her first five CDs were released between 1992 and 2003.
Whether the crisis in the record industry caused this, is unclear. It can hardly have been an artistic crisis though, because Taylor plays eleven songs in which she supply mixes singer-songwriter, folk, blues and jazz.
She recorded her vocals and her semi-acoustic Duesenberg-guitar live in producer Peter Gallway’s living room and afterwards drummer Jerry Marotta dubbed eight of the eleven tracks.
That sparse instrumentation leads to a rich unity. Taylor plays and sings evocatively, calling both Bonnie Raitt and Joni Mitchell to mind. Marotta does not play the beat, but plays parts in which he answers her. That way he does not only support Taylor’s songs, but he complements the intriguing melodies, in which her in-depth lyrics take centre stage. Whoever listens to Taylor, is won over by her.
****
The Dutch version of this review is published in roots music magazine Heaven no. 80, September-October 2012/no. 5