“Whatever you thought (or didn’t) about Frazey Ford’s previous outfit, folk trio the Be Good Tanyas, it’s worth approaching her second solo album as a stand-alone work. Ford recorded it in Memphis with Al Green’s old band, the Hi Rhythm Section. The result is a minor country-soul gem, full of lovely and deeply atmospheric instrumentation gilding Ford’s alluring vocals. Her words are chewed up and impressionistic but delivered by a limpid voice – a beguiling contradiction that sustains your interest throughout. Done tells of a relationship breakdown, the intensity of Ford’s words masked by her own delivery and the genial canter of brass and keys.” - Kitty Empire (The Guardian 26/10/2014)
I can’t say I liked this much, or actively disliked it. In theory it is the kind of thing I might listen to, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, Hammond organ, girlie vocals. The reality is that there is no variety in the songs, they are all medium paced melodic numbers with no real hook. The vocalist has a very, very strange style which renders the lyrics all but incomprehensible much of the time. Her voice is not strong enough to support a glossolalia style approach a la Liz Fraser or Lisa Gerrard so this was just irritating. I could detect neither intensity nor meaning to much of the performance so it was all a bit nice but pointless. The Sundays did this kind of thing so much better 25 years ago.
I found it to difficult to get worked up about really. You need to nominate something truly awful to bring out the hate. Nominating a thriple LP of Guilt Machine remixes might do it though.
Oh, and the bit about being the sort of thing I might listen to.
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