This is the latest album, now signed to Ruf records, from Georgia born Eddie 9V, and bloody fine it is too. Eddie has some of the Blues and roots about his music but also a fair amount of soul and Americana, coupled with a sharp wit and a grand way of telling stories through his music.
His style and content has developed over the years, with less of the crazy that showed up on previous outings and more control, but he still has the passion and the sheer naked emotion on songs such as ‘Cry like A River’. All balanced by wry nudges and sass.
“I was shooting for a more Americana-type album this time, less blues songs and solos and more focusing on the songwriting,” he explains of the eleven originals co-written with his brother, the much-respected Southern musician, Lane Kelly. The recording sessions mostly saw the multi-instrumentalist siblings hunkered down at their own Echo Deco Studio in Atlanta, self-producing the new tracks with Patrick Meese and inviting guest players to supply horns, fiddle and lap steel. “It was definitely more me and my brother in our home studio recording everything. There’s a lot of guests, for sure, but it was mainly overdubbing. We did the songs Saratoga, Delta and Halo at Crown Lanes Studio in Denver, and it was nice to take a break, walk outside, see the mountains, feel the fresh air. At our studio, it’s just muggy with mosquitoes. But sometimes it’s good to not have distractions.”
He also manages a great Swamp-groove on ‘Delta’, some great lazy horns behind the vocals and all very Dr John.
The title track has a wonderful funky rhythm to it as well as a superb vocal from Eddie.
All together 11 tracks and not one of them is filler, or anything like the track that precedes it.
After the huge statement of ‘Saratoga’ the next track, ‘Halo’, is a funky number with Eddie’s high vocals giving it a Jamiroquai feel – no bad thing. Then you get the impassion Stax-soul of ‘Cry Like A River’. All different all the time.
