I really do love it when an album closer ties everything up into a neat bow, with a summation of the positives that have come before it. “Woebegone”, the closing track on Draw Blood, the most recent offering from Oxford’s Little Red, does a wonderful job of doing just that.
Before you read on, Little Red is giving a FREE download of “Diamond Back”, from the album, to Angry Baby readers. If you’re not already subscribed to Angry Baby, just pop the email address that you’d like it delivered to here and it will be on its way to you straight away, together with a bumper collection of music that has been shared by Angry Baby. The music comes from outstanding artists that you may not have heard before. With a mix of rock, pop, folk…you name it…there’s bound to be something new that floats your musical boat, and all for free! What’s not to like about that?!
With bouncing, jangly guitars, a moody sound (the BBC describes them as Oxford”s premier dark folk band), and a thoughtful, interesting message, “Woebegone” pockets a little of the shiny bits from both English folk and American…..Americana. A theme that runs throughout the whole of Draw Blood.
The main reference point however, is the multi vocals.
Through the whole album, Hayley Bell, Ian Mitchell and Ben Gosling trade variants of vocal light and shade, consistently mixing it up and adding variety, be that on the minor key, “The River”, with it’s wheels-rolling guitar line, or the aptly haunting “Siren Song”, with it’s vocals marrying and matching up between octaves. At no point does it feel overplayed, or overused. It’s completely natural, and part of one big puzzle.
Another album highlight is single release “Diamond Back”, with its beat-heavy stomp and organ chimes. Alongside talk of “going to the valley with a body in the lake” and the adage of “what you reap is what you sow, you’ve made your bed, so off you go”, it’s a track of gloomy gospel.
“Black Dog”, another highlight, brings with it more “rollin’” and “handclap” rhythms, adding images of wolves and fog to bring the darkness.
With a new album now out, the prestige of having headlined The O2 Academy in Oxford, and playing festivals such as Common People, you can expect the dark, gloomy tides to continue rolling in for Little Red.
Top Tracks:
Diamondback, Black Dog, Woebegone
For fans of:
Iron and Wine, Bruce Springsteen, Jason Isbell,
Little Red’s advice for anybody starting out in music is all about getting your work out there:
Record something and put it out ASAP. That way you can get decent gigs and have a springboard to go forwards. Just make sure it’s a good document of your craft first, though!
Draw Blood was released on 25th May. Get your copy here
Catch Little Red live. Or if you can’t make it, follow them at:
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