It’s been too long since I heard GARY HALL sing. Having fronted one of the UK’S most unsung, pioneering Roots-rock outfits (Gary Hall & The Stormkeepers) and recorded six critically-acclaimed albums, Hall retreated to the confines of his Lancastrian recording studio, The Voodoo Rooms, around a decade back, apparently turning his back on live performance and leaving a question mark hanging over new material into the bargain.
Gary’s Voodoo Rooms has since played host to singer/ songwriter IAN BAILEY, another tunesmith with an ear for a finely-crafted melody and an eloquent lyrical insight into the human condition. Indeed, his trio of solo albums to date remain firm favourites chez W&H, so the fact he has coaxed Hall back to recording and gigging again in a duo format is surely reason to run up the flags around here.
The resulting ‘Songs from the Voodoo Rooms’ is a low-key, yet assured affair featuring acoustically-inclined, re-invented takes of key songs from both performers’ back catalogues, plus four brand new tunes co-written specially for this release. Recorded in stripped-back fashion, with just two sweetly intertwining acoustic guitars, close-miked harmonies and the occasional strategic embellishment (harmonica, subtle percussive strokes), it’s refreshingly devoid of anything that prevents it getting straight to the emotional heart of the matter.
Although songs like ‘One Step Ahead of the Blues’ and ‘Better Man’ initially sound a little strange shorn from their original arrangements (a Charlatans-style groove in the former case, a spangly, Byrds-y setting for the latter), the intimacy really suits the confessional aspect of the lyrics and in all cases the harmonies are simply dead on. Arguably even better is the formerly string-kissed ‘Don’t Throw It All Away’ which is re-invented here as a truly gorgeous (if all too brief) acapella postscript.
|
Elsewhere, Bailey’s ‘You Stop Me From Falling’ sounds as wonderfully vulnerable as ever, while Hall’s ‘Some Cry Words’ has a touch of Townes Van Zandt’s poetic fatalism about it (“just like sweet Tequila, burns your mouth and frees your mind/ every song I sing I want to taste it line by line”). ‘I Can’t Believe She’s Gone’ pushes it hard, with Hall seemingly wrenching the sadness-soaked lyric (“it’s an empty world without her/ full of holes only she can fill”) from his deepest, most personal space within. ‘The Enemy Within’, meanwhile, isn’t so much the Orwellian epic its’ title suggests, but its’ troubled lyric (“it seems there’s a dark cloud on the horizon each time I begin”) appears to tackle depression head on, only for the rich ‘Chance to Change’ to throw back the curtains and bask in redemptive sunshine once again.
While it’s hard to move for sensitive singer/ songwriters these days, there are still a few out there with that rare ability to wring that extra special something out merely acoustic guitars, intuitive harmonies and some well-turned phrases. Gary Hall and Ian Bailey are two such master craftsmen and their ‘Songs from the Voodoo Rooms’ are among the loveliest tunes sans amplification you’ll hear all year.
Gary Hall and Ian Bailey on MySpace
|
