 | Gawler, South Australian duo, Lily & The Drum paid me the honour of asking my opinion of their next CD, "Buried in Blue". Not a Blues album as such, but a very fine document indeed. The album is to be released in August , so make sure you support local music and get along to one of their shows and buy the CD. Their Buried in Blue album launch shows are:
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Here is my review…
Upon first listen I was a little taken aback by Lily & The Drums latest album, “Buried in Blue”. It’s not at all what I am used to hearing these days, but I know never to judge something upon first listen, so I let it roll, and quite soon I was hooked. I put the album on again today and listened as I say, with ‘new ears’, and it immediately became apparent what Lily & The Drum had in mind with this batch of original songs and this fine new album.
As should always be, “Buried in Blue” opens strongly with one of its most powerful tunes, ‘Holding out for Love’. It romps along nicely providing the listener with an ample demonstration of what is to come. John Yacka’s drums are as rock solid as those you will find anywhere, and I find his ‘Dylanesque’ harmonica style to be very pleasing. It can’t be an easy to be both a percussionist and a harp man simultaneously. The next song, ‘Every Passing Sign’ comes along next, and I have to say I love the beautiful chorus the duo has put together here. It has a tempo and feel of a classic song, almost like some song I’ve heard before somewhere. In fact most of the album’s tunes have that ambience about them to me. They fit the listener just like some warm overcoat in the dead of winter, comfortable and soothing.
Upon first listen I was a little taken aback by Lily & The Drums latest album, “Buried in Blue”. It’s not at all what I am used to hearing these days, but I know never to judge something upon first listen, so I let it roll, and quite soon I was hooked. I put the album on again today and listened as I say, with ‘new ears’, and it immediately became apparent what Lily & The Drum had in mind with this batch of original songs and this fine new album.
As should always be, “Buried in Blue” opens strongly with one of its most powerful tunes, ‘Holding out for Love’. It romps along nicely providing the listener with an ample demonstration of what is to come. John Yacka’s drums are as rock solid as those you will find anywhere, and I find his ‘Dylanesque’ harmonica style to be very pleasing. It can’t be an easy to be both a percussionist and a harp man simultaneously. The next song, ‘Every Passing Sign’ comes along next, and I have to say I love the beautiful chorus the duo has put together here. It has a tempo and feel of a classic song, almost like some song I’ve heard before somewhere. In fact most of the album’s tunes have that ambience about them to me. They fit the listener just like some warm overcoat in the dead of winter, comfortable and soothing.
| Song after song, ‘Are you Gonna be Brave’, Could it be I’m Wrong’, ’Let it Slide’ and ‘Child of Love’ demonstrate that there are no weak links at all to this album. Lily’s vocal style is bold and brassy, at times plaintiff and whimsical, other times bristling with attitude and robustness. Her voice has a control, power and clarity other female singer’s wish they had. Her guitar playing is equally as good. Her chord playing is very clean and fits the duo’s sound like a glove, in fact I think the synergy between her and John Yacka is evident everywhere. Hear Lily stretch out vocally on the album’s title track, ‘Buried in Blue’, more of John’s soulful harp and sympathetic drumming….beautiful stuff. As I stated previously, I was unsure about this album to begin with, but I am so happy to have it in my CD player. Lily & The Drum do not conform to the norm; nor do they follow any trends. You will not be able to listen to any of these songs and pigeonhole them. They do things their way, saying “This is us, make of it what you will”. I find this attitude healthy and refreshing, and I applaud Lily & John for producing such a fine album, well done. |  |
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