A wonderfully eclectic label at the best of times, One Little Indian have quietly been establishing themselves as purveyors of quality Americana-related artists thanks to sublime releases from the likes of Jesse Malin, Jeff Klein and Matthew Ryan over the past few years.
However, with Texan husband and wife team Steven and Sherilyn Collins (aka DEADMAN) they might just have gone one better, as the duo's second album "Our Eternal Ghosts" is simply one of the most consistent and affecting records this humble scribe has clapped ears on all year.
To recap, Mr & Mrs.Collins made their notable debut "Paramour" with respected producer Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, U2, Marianne Faithfull etc) a couple of years back. It was a cool record and went on to win an International World Music Series sponsored by Billboard magazine, thus enabling Deadman to set up a home studio and Steven to give up the day job in favour of producing other artists and spending more time on the band's own music.
It's a lifestyle change that has seriously come to fruition with "Our Eternal Ghosts", too, for it's an unfailingly atmospheric album from start to finish, and one that yearns for the goodness of humanity in an increasingly deadly world.
"When The Music's Not Forgotten" is the opening track, and immediately you know you're on to something special. It's poised and beautiful, with yearning and dignified vocals from the pair and ghostly pedal steel rolling like tumbleweed, evoking a feel akin to Emmy Lou Harris's wonderful, Daniel Lanois-produced "Wrecking Ball" and The Band's masterful early work en route.
Lofty compariosons, you might well say, and you'd be right, but as "Our Eternal Ghosts" unravels, these are the kind of comparisons that continue to spring to mind in the most favourable way imaginable, not least during gorgeous songs like the alluringly biblical duet of "Brother John" - with its' memorable Neil Young-style harmonica solo - or the reflective "The Monsters Of Goya", where the menacing and surrealistic lyrics ("They hunt me in the dead of night...they loom in the El Greco sky") refer to the draining, corporate day jobs the Collins' were forced to toil over before their big break.
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Elsewhere, the band and Howard show they are equally adept when they slide into something a little more rhythmic. "Won't Be Long", for example, is truly elegant, with a big rising chorus reminiscent of The Band's "Music From Big Pink", while "Werewolves" straddles subtle, low-riding groove - all brushed drums and flecks of sinewy guitar - while Collins submits a dark, Howe Gelb-ish vocal as the song taps into a Tucson-style desert weirdness that's extremely provocative. The album's one rocker, "Sad Ole Geronimo", goes even further out, kicking in with rolling drums, scuzzy guitars and a Mexicali infusion before continuting on to strut ahead in a heavy, Crazy Horse stylee and finally fall apart in scree-ing, bleeding feedback.
But really you're spoilt by virtually everything here, and the album's latter stage hoards equally crucial tracks such as the gentle, tremulous "Slow Dance", sung with delicacy and poise by Sherilyn Collins, and the uplifting spiritual that is "Love Will Guide You Home", which - lyrically at least - recalls pioneers such as The Carter Family. Indeed, such is the strength of the material on offer that even when they veer towards pastiche (as on "Absalom! Abasalom!" where even the funky, bayou drumming recalls Levon Helm) they always have sufficient reserves of charisma to ride it out successfully.
But really Deadman are quite a find on any level. "Our Eternal Ghosts" evokes the warmth, humanity and ingenuity of the finest roots music there is, while still challenging and looking to the future along the way. Visiting this haunted house is a trip I'd recommend even the faint-hearted should take at their earliest convenience.
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