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highly enjoyable rocking standard ‘She Caught The Katy’, possesses a ragged, engaging guitar
riff (matching Mike’s vocals) not unlike the Rolling Stones. There is a very pleasing, thick,
smoky, Gothic, piano-rolling, Southern-Country-B3 atmosphere on the sweet slide-driven
‘Alabama Pines’, while the strutting and swinging rumba-infused horns of ‘House Of Cards’,
lead us into classic, smoky Chicago club territory, splendid!
A warming, southern, sentimental, yearning vocal pleasingly entwines with the rolling,
tumbling tumbleweed of piano, B3 and guitar on ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’. The slow
burning, laid back ‘Key To The Highway’, delivers a sweetly ambling combination of relaxed
guitar and percussion, allowing a very mellow piano and vocal to roll over the top. The band
enjoy themselves on ‘Sweet Thing’, a rocking and grooving soul number with sweetly punching
and wailing horns. ‘Waterfall’, is quite simply an acoustic gem, the delicately struck strings
splendidly depicting falling and gently tumbling water.
Highly recommended!
Brian Harman
Emma Wilson—Wish Her Well—Emma Wilson Music
EWMCD 01
Oh, what a delight this one is! Emma has been working very
hard now for the last couple of years and it is starting to pay
off. Picked up by a distribution network, her music is starting
to penetrate and justly so.
Here we have a selection of ten songs—all written by
Emma—that show off what a remarkable talent she is. The
opener ‘Rack ‘em Up’ is a sassy piece; a kind of twenty-first
century drinking song that might give AA a touch of the
seconds! That is followed by ‘Back On The Road’, in which
Emma really goes for it. Full-voiced, she attacks ‘Back On The Road’ like a mid-career Tina
Turner and the arrangement is super, including an understated change of time signature,
reminding me of the Beatles in their prime. ‘Little Love Bite’ is a less forceful, but just as
powerful ballad with delightful vocal twists and another great arrangement.
‘Mary-Lou’ gives Emma a chance to use her full range—a remarkable song, delightfully
delivered. ‘Not Paying’ is an out and out rocker. Delivered at 142bpm, it comes with some
outstanding fills from the band—Adam Chetwood on guitar and Alessandro Brunetta on
harmonica— and is my favourite track from an outstanding bunch.
I really hope this album is the ‘Big Break’ for Emma. Not only does she deserve it for her
dedication and persistence, she also deserves it for this album which is a demonstration of her
wonderful vocal skills and of her exceptional song writing chops. A truly wonderful album.
Ian K McKenzie