I’m sure they wouldn’t have wanted it this way, but Doug and Telisha Williams have tapped in to the zeitgeist with this album released so soon after the latest atrocity in Florida. “Radiant” has more than its fair share of message songs including one that deals with sexual intolerance and another that has references to gun massacres and sexual intolerance (and lots of other things). By a strange coincidence, those two songs, “Love Is Not a Sin” and “Unplug the Machine” are among the standout songs on the album, but by no means the only ones. The playing and the vocals are perfect throughout as Doug and Telisha are supported by Megan Jane and Fats Kaplin and their overall sound is beefed up by Doug’s switch from acoustic to electric (Telecaster, of course).
The album covers a variety of styles, from the sixties-styled, reverb-soaked opener “Born with a Broken Heart” to the pure country of “Mom and Pop” and the lyrics range across message songs, revenge songs and songs about Catawba tree watching over generations of families and silently witnessing the changes in their circumstances in “Tower and the Wheel”. “Radiant” is full of songs that are superbly crafted and arranged, particularly a section of three songs in the middle of the album.
“Mom and Pop” is country all the way, with a lead vocal from Doug, as it tells the story of a small-town store forced out of business by the big retail players. It’s powerful social comment made more poignant by the little details about the creaky floorboards the owner never got round to fixing and the relief that Mom and Pop aren’t around to see the end of their store. “Unplug the Machine” is raw power from the start, the verses spitting out a rapid list of the world’s ills in the style of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” before erupting into the catchiest chorus I’ve heard in ages; you’ll be singing along at the top of your voice. It’s an anthem. “The Night We Never Met” drops down through the gears to a sixties girl group sound with a story that’s an alternative take on Goffin and King’s “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”, where the lovers don’t actually meet. It’s a lovely (and very clever) song which captures the style perfectly.
“Radiant” combines a passionate commitment to social and environmental issues with lovingly-crafted songs to create an album that inspires a questioning attitude without sounding preachy; that’s quite an achievement.
“Radiant” is out I the UK on Friday June 24th on No Evil Records (NER003).
They’re also touring the UK and Europe at the moment and you can catch them in these places .
It’s hard to reconcile the fourth Christa Couture album with its accompanying press release; if you’ve read about her personal history and you know that this is a break-up album, then you could be forgiven for expecting Leonard Cohen meets Jackson Browne, but “Long Time Leaving” certainly doesn’t fit that mould. Lyrically, it’s a very honest portrayal of a breakup, tapping in to all aspects of the end of a relationship, including the opportunities for experimentation presented to the newly-uncoupled. Even when a song’s subject matter’s dark, the musical arrangements can be quite upbeat, even jaunty, with an eclectic mix of musical stylings and a clear, intimate vocal hinting at early Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos.
The musicianship is superb throughout the album; Gary Craig (drums) and John Dymond (basses) along with producer Steve Dawson (guitars and keys) with a guest appearance from renowned Nashville fiddler Fats Kaplin, shift seamlessly from style to style as they build an evocative backdrop for Christa’s vocals. “Zookeeper” is a perfect example of this; the arrangement builds around a heavily reverbed guitar to create a dramatic, doom-laden setting for a song portraying a couple’s counsellor as a zookeeper forcing them to face up to the wild animals that symbolise the reasons for their breakup.
“Alone in This” is pure Nashville, with pedal steel throughout, topped off with a beautiful solo, while “Lovely Like You” bounces along with help of Fats Kaplin’s fiddle fills and the call and response between fiddle, vocals and slide resonator. These are all elements that you wouldn’t be surprised to find on any Americana record, but there’s a joker in the pack as well. There are occasional flashes of musical theatre breaking through in the instrumental arrangements and the vocal delivery. In the lines ‘The hallways are lined with boxes neatly stacked/this is what eight years looks like packed’ that open “Separation/Agreement”, there’s a one-beat pause before ‘packed’ that’s pure theatre, and it’s perfect.
“Long Time Leaving” pulls together widely varying musical styles linked by Christa Couture’s fluty voice, inventive lyrics and tales of the aftermath of a breakup. One of her aims was to make an album to accompany doing housework and she’s actually managed to make it work. With a few exceptions, the music is catchy, packed with hooks and upbeat, while Christa avoids the obvious pitfalls of the subject matter by steering clear of the blame culture and exploring areas like binge drinking and sexual experimentation. It’s an intriguing roller-coaster of an album and when you step off at the end of the ride, you’ll feel exhilarated and uplifted. You’ll probably get through the ironing twice as quickly as well.
“Long Time Leaving” is released on Black Hen Music (BHCD0079) on Friday May 20th.
