STACK February 2016 Issue 136

Sal Kimber and the Rollin'

Wheel

Southern Light

“Come the dark, come the dark,

the dead of night,” so starts

Sal Kimber’s third album, and

the record concludes with the

singer-songwriter declaring: “Just

have faith in what will come.”

Southern Light

is as good as any

Americana album you’ll hear this

year, featuring nine vignettes,

each exquisitely produced by

Shane O’Mara. Punctuated with

vivid imagery, darkness creeps

into every song, but the album is

never bleak. In just two simple

lines, Kimber brilliantly depicts

the difficulties of love: “And I was

always waiting for you to come

find me/ And you were always

waiting for me to come home.”

(Vitamin) Jeff Jenkins

The Jezabels

Synthia

After getting the difficult second

album out of the way, The

Jezabels have reunited with

Prisoner producer Lachlan Mitchell

to deliver their third album,

which sparkles and shines like

their debut. Fronted by Hayley

Mary – a potent mix of Kate Bush,

Debbie Harry and Cyndi Lauper

– The Jezabels have a knack for

sounding both epic and intimate.

Plenty of highlights here, with the

album bookended by two songs

clocking in at more than seven

minutes –

Stand and Deliver

and

Stamina

– while

My Love Is A

Disease

is like a downbeat rewrite

Endless Summer

, and

Smile

darkly sensual and grand.

(MGM) Jeff Jenkins

Lucinda Williams

The Ghosts of Highway 20

Highway 20 (aka Interstate 20) is

a stretch of road that runs from

West Texas to Florence, South

Carolina, and it's the common

thread connecting most of the

songs on Lucinda Williams' 12th

album. In her nearly four-decade

career she has previously written

about this part of the world, but

now adds more memories and

experiences of places and people

who have lived along the way.

Williams also revives the words of

Woody Guthrie on

House of Earth

and reinterprets Springsteen’s

Factory

, with two of the finest

guitarists (Bill Frisell and Greg

Leisz) by her side, caressing and

carrying her exceptional words and

whiskey-soaked vocals.

(Highway 20/ThirtyTigers)

Denise Hylands

Buddy Miller & Friends

Cayamo Sessions At Sea

Buddy Miller is an amazingly

talented award-winning guitarist,

singer, songwriter, producer

and current Music Producer of

the TV show

Nashville

. Besides

releasing nine solo albums, he

has collaborated with many.

Cayamo is a music cruise that

sails the seas hosting some of

the best in Americana music;

these sessions came from Miller

setting up a studio on-board in

2014 and 2015, and taking the

opportunity to capture special

one-off performances from artists

such as Lucinda Williams, Richard

Thompson, Nikki Lane, Kris

Kristofferson and others. What a

wonderful start to the music year.

"Catch of the Day."

(NewWest Records)

Denise Hylands

Pantera

The Complete Studio

Albums: 1990 - 2000

Whether you consider Pantera

torchbearers for heavy metal or a

band that successfully navigated

trends, there’s no denying

their impact during the '90s.

The Complete Studio Albums:

1990-2000

demonstrates not

only how, but also confirms why

they are held in such high regard

today. While I am partial to the

era that spawned

Cowboys

From Hell

and

Vulgar Display Of

Power

, it’s interesting to hear

how Pantera developed over the

years, eventually returning to their

traditional metal roots on their

final album

Reinventing The Steel

Available in 5-CD set or limited

edition coloured vinyl boxset with

a bonus 7”.

(Warner) Simon Lukic

Anthrax

For All Kings

Listening to

For All Kings

made

me wonder what Anthrax could

have achieved had they never

fired vocalist Joey Belladonna

back in 1992. They recorded four

studio albums with John Bush,

but Belladonna proves here – on

his first proper album back with

the band – that he is more than

just a throwback to the '80s.

The band themselves seem to

have realised this, delivering

their most traditional heavy metal

performance in years. It’s not

thrash metal, but the songs have

crater-sized hooks, tight, punchy

rhythms and that patented Anthrax

stomp so crucial to their sound.

(Nuclear Blast/Caroline)

Simon Lukic

STREAMYOUR FAVOURITE ALBUMS AT JBHI-FI NOW... NOW!

enry Wagons

ter What I Did Last Night...

nry Wagons is a weird cat. Justin Townes Earle

ckons he’s like “Dr Seuss meets Conway Twitty,

rutting like a Tennessee Walking Horse on PCP.”

agons has teamed up with Earle’s producer,

ylar Wilson, in Nashville, for his first solo album.

A mix of Waylon and Willie with a touch of Warren

Zevon, Wagons is a larger-than-life character, which is not always a good

thing in the music world as often the reality doesn’t match the myth. But

on this record he’s not just playing the outlaw country crooner with a love

for Vegas.

After What I Did Last Night…

works because Wagons is such

a good singer – his sonorous tone is a delight – and he’s also letting the

listener in on enough of his personal story, taking his audience along for

the ride. He addresses his upbringing and shows a vulnerable side in

Only

Child

: “I lived alone and I played alone,” he reveals, “so please stay.” And

he manages to follow a touching ode to fatherhood,

As Long As I Breathe

– “I have a baby girl and she smiles!” – with a song called

Only Sane

Mother F.

Yep, Henry Wagons is a weird cat. And he’s a star.

(ABC/Universal) Jeff Jenkins

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