Owing to his session and sideman work for bigger names, Texas guitarist Doyle Bramhall II doesn\u2019t release his own music very often. Based on Shades<\/i>, this is a damn shame.<\/p>\n
A hybrid of Southern blues and soul, Shades <\/i>never strays too far from its roots but neither does it cop from other artists, instead sticking to an effortlessly chilled lane of its own. Bramhall not only wrote most of the album but sings, plays guitar, drums, bass, keyboards, produces, and arranges it, and finds time to invite Eric Clapton, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Norah Jones to guest on a couple of songs.<\/p>\n
Labors of love sometimes can feel fussy. Not here. There\u2019s a joy to the gospel background vocals of \u201cHammer Ring,\u201d the R&B flavors and wonky guitar solo tandem of \u201cLove And Pain\u201d and the silky nightclub vibe of \u201cEverything You Need.\u201d The missed opportunity of that latter song is Clapton\u2019s appearance; yes, Bramhall has been part of Clapton\u2019s band for 18 years and so he was obligated to appear here, and the guitar workout between the two is appreciated, but someone like Leon Bridges \u2013 another artist who looks back in order to push forward \u2013 would have elevated the song. It\u2019s still a great piece of music, though.<\/p>\n
The album is akin to 2016\u2019s Rich Man<\/i>, emphasizing singing and vibe over guitar heroics, so those who know of Bramhall from his early-2000s axe-slinging may be a bit disappointed. But that was 17 years ago, and rather than tread the blues rock ground of many a middle-aged white dude, Bramhall opts for soul and Southern-fried countenance here. It allows him room to shrug off any expectations and make songs like \u201cParvanah\u201d and the very good \u201cLike Forever,\u201d tunes that are tough to classify and all the better for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Night\u201d is as close to a Bridges tune as the man himself has achieved so far, while \u201cBreak Apart To Mend\u201d is an understated, classy ballad. \u201cConsciousness\u201d and \u201cShe\u2019ll Come Around\u201d are among the few dull tracks here, but \u201cParvanah\u201d makes up for it. This cut brings in an Eastern\/Indian melody that snakes around the blues, creating a tension and release not often heard in guitar rock. And the closing \u201cGoing Going Gone,\u201d a Dylan cover recorded here with Tedeschi Trucks Band, starts slowly but eventually blossoms into a confident guitar solo that proves Bramhall deserves far more credit from the general public than he gets.<\/p>\n
Shades <\/i>is exactly that, moving from palettes of gray to color and back, in service of strong, laidback, and compelling songs. It\u2019s a rewarding and layered listen well worth your time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":33621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10264],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-45442","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-doyle-bramhall-ii","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45442","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\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=45442"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=45442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}