Gill Landry: Skeleton at the Banquet (CD on Loose Music)

Band: Gill Landry
Label: Loose Music
Title: Skeleton at the Banquet

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Band:Gill Landry
Title:Skeleton at the Banquet
Reviewed By:Nicky Crewe
Date Published:17/03/2020

Label:Loose Music
Format:CD
Release Year:2019
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Gill Landry hails from Louisiana. Once a busker on the streets of New Orleans, then a member of the Old Crow Medicine Show, he is now an established and celebrated solo artist. He has won two Grammies and he has collaborated with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Klara Soderburg and Laura Marling. He has toured internationally in his own right and as support for artists including Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling, Ben Harper and Bruce Hornsby.

He has a voice and he knows how to use it.

I’m going to quote from Landry himself regarding the mood and purpose of this latest album.

"This album is a series of reflections and thoughts on the collective hallucination that is America. With a love song or two thrown in for good measure. I wrote it from within the refuge of a small flat, in a small village in western France where I spent last summer. I found it to be a good place for seeing the forest through the trees, so to speak."

I am very aware that most of the singer songwriters I listen to are trying to find a way to express the despair they feel at the way the world seems to be turning while hanging on to a sense of hope. The title of the album, 'Skeleton at the Banquet', and the cover art (reminiscent of a seventeenth century memento mori painting of feast and decay) tells us this isn’t going to be an easy listen. There is, however. an immediate contradiction, because the depth and warmth of Landry’s voice and the images he creates mean that the songs demand attention and draw you in, and in that concentration you find some hope and redemption.

I have also been trying to identify the love songs. 'I Love You Too' explores a very personal view of love. 'Angeline' has all the bitterness of an early Dylan love song and a hint of the harmonica. 'Portrait of Astrid (Nocturne)' does away with words and closes the album with a beautifully delicate instrumental song of praise. 'The Wolf' packs a twist in the lyrics when the gender is revealed. 'Nobody’s Coming' could be a threat or a promise. 'Trouble Town' is as dystopian as the title suggests. But then there’s an exploration of the search for safety and security in 'The Place They Call Home' and 'The Refuge of Your Arms'. 'A Different Tune' does offer some light relief.

Listen and listen hard to these songs. They are worth it. Helping us to make sense of the times we live in is part of the role and destiny of a good songwriter, whether it's about love and relationships or our place in the world.

Landry is joined by Seth Ford-Young on bass, Josh Collazo on drums, Stewart Cole on trumpet and Odessa Jorgensen on violin.

Track Listing:

01) I Love You Too
02) The Wolf
03) A Different Tune
04) Nobody's Coming
05) The Refuge of Your Arms
06) The Place They Call Home
07) Angeline
08) Trouble Town
09) Portrait of Astrid (a Nocturne)

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Thought provoking album for dark times from ex Old Crow Medicine member Gill Landry, the poetry of whose lyrics and the warmth of whose voice help sweeten the bitter pill of this new collection of songs

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Skeleton at the Banquet - CD
Thought provoking album for dark times from ex Old Crow Medicine member Gill Landry, the poetry of whose lyrics and the warmth of whose voice help sweeten the bitter pill of this new collection of songs

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