Label: 4AD Format: CD
Get ready for a complete departure. The latest from Warn Defever has absolutely nothing to do with anything His Name Is Alive has done before. This is a R&B album, through and through.
In fact it is a showcase for the o-so-Blues-ish Lovetta Pippen. Listening to her velvety smooth/rough voice which can stand up to a lot of volume, it is apparent why Defever decided to produce this record and give her a platform to sing from. How the fanbase for HNIA will accept this record may be another matter. One has to really put some time in to realise it is more special than any of the trillion other R&B ladies running the charts of popular music at any one time. And there is a reference herein to Billie Holliday, which I am not sure is all that deserved, unless it is merely Ms. Lovetta’s idea of a tribute. That is not to say she is not as good at what she does, it just isn’t Billie and I don’t think the inference will go down too well. At any rate, taken on its own, and cleansed of the comparisons to all that this disc springs up out of, Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth stands alone as a beautiful recording.
The production is sparkling and clean and never crowds out what is the star attraction, the vocals of Lovetta. The lyrics are pure Pop of older days, good phrases, lines that stay with the listener longer and longer on subsequent listens. The harmonies between Lovetta and her back-ups reach near Gospel aspirations. The instrumentations are purely for backdrops, scene setting, and don’t ever threaten to pull the spotlight off Lovetta. How did this happen? How did Warn and Lovetta grow up out of their respective worlds of everything harsh and everything experimental to create such a nice mainstream recording of such clarity and genuine basic talent? Will Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth set new standards within the mainstream it may challenge while ultimately entering? Will His Name Is Alive achieve chart success? Who knows? I am going to pour myself a gin and tonic and memorise all these words so I can sit in the afternoon sun and sing along.
Surprises can be so entertaining.
-Lilly Novak-
