Alvarez Theory - The Alvarez Theory
by Fiona Hutchings
published: 14 / 5 / 2019
Label:
Alvarez Theory
Format: CD
intro
Engaging eponymous debut album from London-based Americana/folk five-piece the Alvarez Theory, which includes well-crafted tales of about small town heroes and bar flies
Originally Spanish/German born Diana (Dee) Diehl was a solo artist in Germany supporting British bands and singers such as Charlotte Hatherley. I'm not at all surprised that she gathered more musicians to join her in the last few years. With Dee on guitar and vocals we have Sarah Louise Bates on bass and vocals, Julia O'Hanion providing fiddle, concertina and vocals, Mark Patterson on mandolin, banjo and guitar with Flo Miller on drums. Additionally four further artists are listed on the album providing fiddle, electric guitar, organ and drums. That gives you some idea of how richly written and layered this album is. Nothing is overblown or included just for its own sake but equally, despite being recorded over just ten days, nothing feels rushed or incomplete. The Alvarez Theory are an Americana folk band weaving tales that capture your ears and paint pictures with sound. Opening track and lead single, ‘By the River’, is plaintive, beautiful and somehow sounds like waves on water. It's a feeling present in many of the album’s ten tracks. Mary McKinley is a sad tale of women running away, escaping across the sea from towns that brings them down, down, down. ‘House That Stood the Storm’ speaks to surviving alongside the unpredictability of nature herself. ‘Like Turner Studied Clouds’ fairly floats and ‘Big City, Empty’ soars and swoops in a way that is so beautiful it makes my heart hurt. These are well crafted tales of small town heroes, bar flies, gun slingers, heart breakers and those with broken hearts. Feeling adrift is a theme that comes up more than once as does feeling alone in the city and crossing the seas. The purity and universality of these stories make them accessible regardless of your usual music tastes. You can catch the Alvarez Theory at the album’s launch on May 24th at Camden's Green Note. And according to Google the Alvarez Theory is actually a hypothesis that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth. So many of these songs allude to that sort of total devastation albeit it on an individual scale. It checks out.
Track Listing:-
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Banter - Heroes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart