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────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Dexys
Title | Let The Record Show
Genre | Alternative Format | Album
Source | CDDA Time | 53:40
Label | 100% Records Store | 2016
Catalog | 100CD51 Rip | 2016
Bitrate | 226 kbps Size | 91.15 MB
Freq | 44.1 kHz Encoder | Lame 3.98.4
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
01. Women Of Ireland 3:21
02. To Love Somebody 4:33
03. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 3:29
04. Curragh Of Kildare 4:11
05. I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen 4:36
06. You Wear It Well 4:50
07. 40 Shades Of Green 3:12
08. How Do I Live 4:59
09. Grazing In The Grass 4:18
10. The Town I Loved So Well 6:01
11. Both Sides Now 3:45
12. Carrickfergus 6:25
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Dexys Midnight Runners are best known in America as one of new
wave's ultimate one-hit wonders, thanks to their 1982 number one
smash "Come On Eileen," a distinctive fusion of '80s pop, Celtic
folk, and blue-eyed soul. In the U.K., however, they earned a fair
amount of critical acclaim and made a greater impression on the
public consciousness with their frequent changes in sound, wardrobe,
and personnel. Dexys were formed in 1978 by singer/guitarist/songwriter
Kevin Rowland and singer/guitarist Kevin 'Al' Archer (who changed his
first name to avoid confusion). Both had been members of the Birmingham,
England, punk band the Killjoys, and Rowland, who was ethnically Irish,
had split his childhood between London, Ireland, and Birmingham, and
soaked up the influence of Irish folk and the so-called Northern soul
music popular in the Midlands.
Kevin Rowland has always been a wild card, to say the least. From the early
days of Dexys Midnight Runners to this album, 2016's "Let The Record Show:
Dexys Do Irish And Country Soul", he has taken the band in whatever
direction his whims and plans demand, no matter the consequences. After
coming back in 2012 with a newly shortened name (Dexys), many former
bandmembers on board, and an album harking back to the vintage days of the
mid-'80s and stocked with songs that were quintessentially Rowland, the
group slimmed down to the core of Rowland, vocalist Sean Read, and viola
player Lucy Morgan and again did something unexpected. The idea of Rowland
doing covers isn't so daft, considering he'd done two albums of them in the
'90s - it was more the songs they covered and the way they approached them.
Half the album is a follow-up to a plan hatched in the 80s (after
Too-Rye-Ay) to take traditional Irish standards and give them the full-bore
Dexys treatment. That makes sense enough. The rest of the album is a wildly
diverse batch of tunes, like the LeAnn Rimes ballad "How Do I Live" and
Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now", that one would never expect Dexys to
cover. No matter the song or style, the band takes a firmly
middle-of-the-road approach to all of them, ladling goopy strings and
tinkling pianos on top of everything and taking everything at a very
relaxed pace. It's an interesting choice, one that ironically makes "Let
The Record Show" the most normal-sounding of all Dexys albums despite its
eccentricities.
While the music is fine, rollicking in spots and suitably arranged on the
ballads, the focus, as always, is on Rowland's instantly recognizable
vocals and his over the top presentation. His voice may not be quite as
elastic as it was in his prime, but age has brought him gravity. Read's
backing vocals play the part of the younger, wilder Rowland, while the man
himself stays firmly grounded. While he sounds great on the few uptempo
songs, he really digs in on the ballads and imbues them with heartbreaking
sincerity and finely burnished soul. It's just right for the nostalgic
sadness of "The Town I Loved So Well" or "Both Sides Now," and dead-on
perfect for the album's showstopper, "Carrickfergus".
Taken at funereal pace, the tale of a terminally ill miner returning home
was sung in one take with Rowland unable to stifle a cough halfway through.
He nails the emotional core of the song and sounds like he's very close to
being the kind of crooner he's long yearned to be. "Let The Record Show"
may not be the record Dexys fans who love Rowland's original songs may have
wanted, but it's a Dexys album through and through. Unpredictable,
completely dedicated, and honest to the core, it packs an emotional wallop
and is yet more proof that Kevin Rowland is still standing, just as proudly
as ever.
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