The blues can be about a lot of things. Sometimes it\u2019s about honoring tradition, sometimes it\u2019s about clever songwriting, sometimes it\u2019s about fiery guitar slinging, sometimes it\u2019s about an unforgettable voice. And sometimes, it\u2019s all about the vibe.<\/p>\n
Hamish Anderson is a terrific singer and an excellent guitar player and a quality songwriter. He might not be a world-beater in any of those categories\u2014yet\u2014but he\u2019s unquestionably strong in each. Where he shines, where he rises above the crowd, is in that intangible, difficult-to-pin-down area of vibe. You feel the full emotional weight of the blues in these songs, which are rich with subtle stylistic details that tell you you\u2019re dealing with a dedicated fan who both understands the genre and is eager to grow in it and through it.<\/p>\n
Kickoff cut \u201cTrouble\u201d locates a steady-churning rhythm over warm Hammond accents as Anderson\u2019s vocals offer a sort of gently lived-in Gary Moore growl, building toward a closing solo that\u2019s restrained but nimble. Next up, \u201cFire\u201d is a steady-burning mid-tempo number, again with a sort of \u201cWhiter Shade Of Pale\u201d Hammond tone backing Anderson\u2019s pulsing, soaring solos. \u201c18 Days\u201d feels like a rewrite of Moore\u2019s \u201cStill Got The Blues\u201d for a while, at least until the reverb-heavy solo gives way to an outro that adds gently burbling sitar in the background. <\/p>\n
Anderson shows his chops and ability to tackle different elements of the blues again and again through the rest of this album. There\u2019s a flashy acoustic number that evolves into a sort of gospel-Motown pastiche (\u201cHolding On\u201d), a gentle loping boogie (\u201cWorking Blues\u201d), funky electric blues (\u201cHold On Me\u201d) and a couple of hooky electro-soul numbers featuring smooth grooves and a nice falsetto (\u201cDon\u2019t Look Back\u201d and \u201cU\u201d).<\/p>\n
All around and in between, he shows off a strong feel for traditional blues on the smoldering Willie Clarke-Clarence Reid cover \u201cAm I A Good Man,\u201d as well as weeping licks with more than a little George Harrison in their musical DNA on the hypnotic ballad \u201cMy Love.\u201d Closer \u201cMy Sweetheart, You\u201d returns to traditional blues with a song that begins exactly as a blues number should: \u201cI\u2019ve been alone so long\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s notable that it requires a close read of the liner notes to detect that this album was recorded in two different studios with several different rhythm sections; clearly, Anderson has a vision and, yes, a vibe that he\u2019s able to recreate at will. That vision, emotional intelligence and drive will serve him well as he continues to grow as an artist and moves from reinterpreting different blues styles to reimagining them in a voice that\u2019s completely his own. Hamish Anderson is the real deal and the album marks him as a talent to watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":32943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9240],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-44719","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-hamish-anderson","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44719"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}