Supertone 2017
Blueberry Pie
Back to the bosom of British blues, a small company of soul mates serves up delicious dish full of tears and smiles.
You don’t have to know that Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell are lovers – the properly wed kind of – yet you can’t help but feel it, once the artists’ passion starts to progressively seep into the organ-oiled “Walkin’ Out The Door” to open this, their first album as an ensemble. Stalwarts of the scene, the couple’s pieces tap into a rich vein of music, picking up where Blue Horizon line of classic performers left off, and the duo songs do so, deploying a little help of their friends who flesh out the band’s sound, with guts and gusto.
The twang of Simon’s guitar and the rumble of Suzy’s bass engage the listener on the lyrical likes of “Guilty” and “You’re So Good For Me” in a lazy-to-blinding bliss supported by catchy interplay, while their voices drive the title track from a gloomy country ballad, slider delicately kissing its soft strum, to something quite transcendental. From relaxed ripples that carry “I Need A Light” and the spiritual sadness of “Cry Over You” that rises above the ivories’ bedrock, up to the harmonica-helped, vibrant stroll through “Say What You Want” which must sway a toughest live crowd, there’s nary a moment not pregnant with a punchy intent.
Rambunctious riffs may rage in “Empire” to resolve in a pop refrain, yet it’s as humorous as it gets when the pleas of “Don’t Get Me Wrong” sprawl the group’s elegance wide as to embrace the very gist of domestic dynamics, before instrumental “Shimmy” does a funky dance, and “Thrill You” is dipped into a solemn nocturnal affection. This is the simmering passion to be proud of – this is the British blues tradition at its best.
****2/3
