Clearly, Welshman Christopher Rees is more than just a musician. He’s also a
musicologist. By definition, he has absorbed many genres, though Americana has
become his style of choice.
Rees has a thorough knowlwedge of the past, from luminaries Elvis, Bob Dylan,
Johnny Cash to bluesmen Son House, Charlie Patton to soul legends Otis Redding,
the Stax catalogue through to the Harry Smith Anthology from the 1950s. On
Cautionary Tales he’s proved once again, as he did with 2004's debut
Sweetest Ache, he’s emerging as Wales’, and the UK’s most profound musical
troubadour.
The ex-Llanelli musician, now Cardiff based, admits being an admirer of
American music since a young age. This fascination has manifested itself into
sparkling results, on this eclectic third album, which is, in effect, about
the seven deadly sins, hence Cautionary Tales. This isn’t a lightweight album
by any means. Lots of issues going on here.
Pooling all his skills, we get some observational work on the opener Bucket
Full Of Holes, a tale of promiscuity, all rolled out in a gentle countrified
shuffle. Things pick up a pace on a rockabilly styled How Did You Sleep Last Night,
a packed story of shock, jealousy and anger. Then comes the jewel in the crown,
a splendid and soulful (Stax-like) duet with Victoria Williams on Bottom
Dollar, which featured replacement singer Becky Newman for his appearence
on ITV Wales’ Guestlist. This song drips with classy singing as the pair question
the fine line between love and platonic friendship: "You were close enough
to kiss / But cupid’s arrow missed / And our lips will never touch / That much
is certain". There’s strings and brass aplenty, that take us back to the
heyday of '60s and '70s Soul.
Changing musical template, finger-licking country-fuelled gem It Won’t Come
Easy has all the classic hallmarks – sublime pedal and lap steel, harmonica
punctuating Rees’s emotive singing, backed by songbird Becky Newman as they
tackle issues such as patience, tolerance, defiance, apathy with lines like,
"There’s a girl I know / She won’t be told a damned thing / There’s a
boy too tired to try / And his world revolves around her / But never with her /
So he finds his comforts eleswhere."
Similarlly, the magic is repeated later, on the hearfelt Until Love Comes
Around Again, a tale, achingly told about emotional devastation and little
hope, via, "I could sleep in your empty bed / surrounded by the clothes you
left...."
Belgian songstress Charline Rose, juxtaposes her parting role in hushed French
sensuality while harmonica and strings wail in the background, adding to the
tension and distress.
The big Blues romp happens on the title track as as the band dig deep into a
whipped-up delta-Blues blast, whereas the simple country shuffle of Mary Lee
(that would grace any Pete Seeger songbook), is a gruesome narrative of a
murder ballad told by lines, "She never asked to be taken to that river at
dawn / She never asked to have that red dress torn / And she never asked to be
beaten and covered in gasoline / No she never asked to be set on fire and pushed
downsteam."
Trying a redemption trick, Mary Lee’s murderer bleats on A Sinner’s Serenade
for the album’s simplest formats: vocals, banjo picks and finger clicks,
capturing the sad soul’s desperate mood before he’s committed to hell.
Rees stradles the stylings with consumate ease, conviction and genuine empathy.
1. Bucket Full Of Holes
2. How Did You Sleep Last Night
3. Bottom Dollar (feat. Victoria Williams)
4. It Won’t Come Easy
5. A Cautionary Tale
6. Mary Lee (feat. Becky Newman)
7. A Sinner’s Serenade
8. Virtues Vs Vices
9. The Calm Before The Storm
10. Don’t let Your Heart Grow Cold
11. Until Love Comes around Again (feat. Charline Rose)
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
