ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
March 6, 2022
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
It's not easy to land a debut record, to make the kind of noise that turns heads that weren't looking your way to begin with. Any given year there's typically not more than three or four first-timers who get it right the first time in our kind of music. To date this year, I'd tag Jason Scott & the High Heat and possibly Landon Lloyd Miller as rare possibilities from our release calendar, but time will tell.
On the heels of a well-received 4-song EP, Sophie Gault knew her follow-up was something special. With Ray Kennedy as an advisor and final mix-ologist, the Nashville songwriter held onto Delusions of Grandeur (Petaluma) throughout the pandemic. As restrictions are lifting and acts are once again taking to the road, Sophie & the Broken Things are ready to make some noise with one of those rare full-length debuts that will find its way into the year-end conversations.
Perhaps the overarching theme of just about any country album is summed up in Gault's gentle "Feel Better": We live and we learn / And we break stuff. Jules Belmont's soulful electric guitar finds its place beside a steady organ, and the singer's slow vibrato recalls Sheryl Crow or Bonnie Raitt in those early days. Delusions doesn't trade in the country of honky-tonks or nights poured from a whiskey bottle. A duet with Logan Ledger, "Trouble" is about the closest thing the record has to a down-n-outer, with Ledger leaning into a low drawl for emphasis. The singers wade through the shards of a broken relationship, acknowledging the consequence of their incompatibility: Like thunder and lightning / Bad luck and some broken things / Some dirt and a shovel.
Sophie Gault instead drops sly hints that she knows her way around Nashville. She channels Patsy Cline on "Churches & Bars": She's got you, but I've got your records in my car. A song inspired by her previous home in upstate New York, it features the dual warped electrics of Gault and Belmont, emboldened by the racing drums and bass of Lemmy Hayes and Twon Haugen. One of the year's best songs, "Dashboard" might echo Gram Parsons heading down down down the open road. The tune speaks to the abandon found behind the wheel, John Prine on the stereo and thoughts set to random: Give me just a minute more / Startin' to feel good to be alone.
Hate to tell you this / But you're not on the high road, she sings on "Far Away". The acoustic number features a terrific vocal from Gault and dobro from studio vet Russ Pahl. Like the rest of Delusions, the song doesn't resort to tricks to attract a listener's attention, but instead earns it with solid writing and a great sounding arrangement. The narrator of "Golden Rule" is an everyman, a cog in the big machine whose days are defined by drudgery: My arms are tired and my hands are sore / And I don't listen to music much anymore. The singer's delivery is beautiful, above guitars that buzz like an assembly line.
With Delusions of Grandeur, Sophie & the Broken Things add to the already genuine appeal of their 2020 EP. Like Jaime Wyatt, Gault is an honest writer who seems to spring fully formed from obscurity. While Ray Kennedy's stamp of approval will raise her profile, her place on year-end lists will be earned on the strength of the great music alone.
--------------------------
We are blessed that this new music machine never seems to stop. We document the whole phenomenon on A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster, our lovingly updated release blog. This week we included Oregon singer-songwriter John Craigie's Mermaid Salt, coming ashore April 15. Charley Crockett continues his productive streak with the April 22 launch of Jukebox Charley (Son of Davy). Caroline Spence's 2019 Mint Condition was one of our favorites for the year. She'll follow up with True North, due April 29 on Rounder. Kevin Morby is planning a May 13 release for This is a Photograph (Dead Oceans). And we're very pleased to announce SG Goodman's sophomore collection. Teeth Marks (Verve) arrives June 3.
This week's ROUTES-cast:
- Ian Noe, "Burning Down the Prairie" River Fools & Mountain Saints (Lock13, Mar 25)
^ Sophie & the Broken Things, "Golden Rule" Delusions of Grandeur (Petaluma, 22)
- Joshua Hedley, "Broke Again" Neon Blue (New West, Apr 22)
- Dead South, "Saturday Night" Easy Listening for Jerks Pt 2 (Six Shooter, 22)
- Rhyan Sinclair, "Gasoline in the Morning" Letters to Aliens (Sinclair, 22)
- Paul Cauthen, "High Heels" Country Coming Down (Velvet Rose, Apr 1)
- Carson McHone, "Sweet Magnolia" Still Life (Merge, 22)
- Corb Lund, "Blue Wing" Songs My Friends Wrote (New West, Apr 29)
- Charley Crockett, "I Feel For You" Jukebox Charley (Son of Davy, Apr 22) D
- Ray Wylie Hubbard, "Stone Blind Horses (feat. Willie Nelson)" Co-Starring Too (Big Machine, Mar 18)
- Band of Horses, "Warning Signs" Things Are Great (BMG, 22)
- Hurray for the Riff Raff, "Saga" Life on Earth (Nonesuch, 22)
- Damien Jurado, "What Happened to the Class of '65" single (Field Painting, 22) D
- Tommy Alexander, "My Dear" single (Alexander, 22) D
- Walter Martin, "Baseball Diamonds" The Bear (Family Jukebox, Mar 25) D
- Caroline Spence, "Clean Getaway" True North (Rounder, Apr 29) D
- Kevin Morby, "This is a Photograph" This is a Photograph (Dead Oceans, May 13) D
- Lucius, "Heartbursts" Second Nature (Mom + Pop, Apr 8)
- Suz Slezak, " Secret Places (feat. Anthony da Costa)" Our Wings May Be Featherless (Nine Mile, 22)
- RF Shannon, "Wildgeeses" single (Keeled Scales, 22) D
- Calexico, "Harness the Wind (feat. Iron & Wine)" El Mirador (Anti, Apr 8)
- SG Goodman, "Teeth Marks" Teeth Marks (Verve, Jun 3) D
- Dead Tongues, "Ticket" Dust (Psychic Hotline, Apr 1)
- Madi Diaz, "Forever (feat. Angel Olsen)" Same History New Feelings (Anti, 22)
- Katy Kirby, "So Much Wine Merry Christmas" Cool Dry Place (Expanded) (Keeled Scales, 22) D
- Joe Purdy, "I Will Let You Go" Coyote (Mudtown Crier, 22)
- Weather Station, "To Talk About" How Is It That I Should Look At the Stars (Fat Possum, 22)
- Lola Kirke, "Broken Families (feat. Courtney Marie Andrews)" Lady for Sale (Third Man, Apr 29) D
- John Craigie, "Distance" Mermaid Salt (Craigie, Apr 15) D
- Wednesday, "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Double)" Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'em Up (Orindal, Mar 11) D
Earlier ROUTES-casts have been removed; subscribe to our Spotify page to keep up with all our new playlists!
No comments:
Post a Comment