In all transparency this video and song from Hezekiah Jones is via my record label Yer Bird Records. I, Sandy (or Smansmith as you may know me) from Slowcoustic, have been known to very sporadically post here on You Crazy Dreamers and I wanted to make sure to share this song/video!
The upcoming album from Hezekiah Jones is entitled “Have You Seen Our New Fort?” and will be released on March 29th, 2011. One of the songs that has hit me the hardest is the stunningly gorgeous track Lift the Shadow From This Heart. The song (accompanied by the video created by Morgan King below) is almost hauntingly recorded with a background of what has to be an old news program…almost as if the song is holding you fixated and you don’t knowing what is happening all around you. With the violin (from Kiley Ryan) soaring in and out of the delicate acoustics and vocals from Raphael Cutrufello, it creates the perfect sombre backing to the struggle outlined in the song. If I didn’t ‘have to’ recommend it, I would anyway. Enjoy.
I recently wrote about Jessica here after seeing her play and wowing the crowd at the end of the road festival. I was a little slow on the uptake about that particularly album but not so slow on her new one, tell me which is just out Nonesuch records. Picking up from where her last album left off Jessica writes songs that belies her 21 years on this planet. Produced by the black keys Dan Auerbach, she sings songs of failed romances and hopeful futures, vulnerability and lost causes, she’s an extremely honest and confident songwriter who rather than mourn about a relationship break up would rather say your loss, I aint got time to be messing around. Ballsy without being arrogant I love her attitude in her songwriting which reminds me of female country singers like Tammy Wynette or more notebly Lucinda Williams albeit a little less twangy. I think this girl is going to be massive and urge you to take a listen. She’s about to embark on an American tour before hitting Europe for a few dates before going back to the states and I urge you to go and catch her play live as she’s pretty special.
By far my favourite band at the moment is Southend’s (An area slowly becoming known as The Thames Delta) The Lucky Strikes. Having just realeased their third album, Gabriel, Forgive My 22 Sins to critical acclaim I’m hoping to see them rise to the stardom their talent surely deserves. A concept album about a boxer who slowly descends into madness because of the guilt he suffers from having thrown a fight. Apparently based on the true story of a boxer the band once met. The first thing that hits you is lead singer Matthew Boulter’s soaring, passionate vocals as the album starts with him screaming ‘The King Is Dead!’ before hitting you with some pounding bass and drums, a pretty heavy rock sounding start which jumps in and out throughout the album, but a geat start to what is so far my album of incredible year for music. The album continues with it’s blues/rock edge adding keys, drums and some extraordinary fiddle playing from ‘Big’ Jim Wilson. I had the pleasure of them playing for Drifter Promotions just recently and someone mentioned it was like hearing a mixture of Thin Lizzy and The Felice Brothers which i thought summed them up rather perfectly, even more so when they covered Whisky In The Jar as their encore! Although this may be a concept album each song holds up as a single track but I would urge you to buy this album and follow the story through. Stand out tracks for me are Snake In The Grass, The Fight and album closer We Are Waves which you can grab here. This is not so much a review but more of a head’s up to watch out for this band. Check them out, they’re incredible!
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