Gary Steel
“THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY” – A SHORT SERIES OF 2014 ALBUM REVIEWS THAT NEVER SAW THE LIGHT OF DAY, FOR SOME REASON.
IT’S ALL ABOUT the throat.
Ebony Lamb has a voice that refuses to just tumble effortlessly out of her mouth, but needs coaxing. She’s been compared to Gillian Welch, but a much better comparison would be Janis Joplin after a hard night of partying on Southern Comfort. Janis Joplin singing a hybrid of folk and alt-country, that is.
Lamb’s voice, when it does roll out, sounds hard won and packs an emotive punch, and it’s what makes EB & Sparrow’s debut special. That, and the fact that the music here sounds natural and time-worn, like just about everything recorded at Lyttelton’s The Sitting Room studios with producer Ben Edwards – someone, give this guy an award.
There are old-time jazz and blues inflexions here, together with flourishes that suggest, rather than genuine Tex-Mex flavourings, too much time spent listening to old Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass records. That anachronistic and rather annoying trumpet is the one major weakness on a debut that sounds like a band that have been playing the traps for decades already. GARY STEEL
Sound = 3.5/5
Music = 3.5/5
