LOW SOCIETY
SANCTIFIED
REZONATE RECORDS 32017
ANGEL FROM MONTGOMERY–RACCOON SONG–THE FREEZE–SANCTIFIED–RIVER OF TEARS–NINA–DROWNING BLUES–NEW YOUR CITY BOY #3–HERE COMES THE FLOOD–I’D RATHER GO BLIND
The third album from internationally-renowned blues band Low Society is called “Sanctified,” and for a very good reason. Lead vocalist Mandy Lemons lets her voice soar with unbridled passion over these eight originals and two covers, pushed onward by her long-time collaborator, guitarist and fellow composer Sturgis Nikides. They’ve played the IBC’s in 2014 and 2015, and, also in 2015, they graced the stage at the prestigious Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland.
They relocated from NYC to Memphis in 2012, and the recording of this project was done in two very different locales–the rhythm tracks were laid down in Roeselare, Belgium, at the Closed Session Recording Studio, while everything else happened down at the historic American Recording Studio in the Bluff City.
Starting off, Mandy gets us all in the mood for the good things to come with a fine read of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” and closes the set with Sturgis’ slide guitar holding things together while Mandy holds nothin’ back as the jilted heroine of the classic “I’d Rather Go Blind.” In between, tho, their eight originals show why they are so in-demand all over the globe. “The Raccoon Song” has a good Hill-Country boogie thang going on as Mandy channels her inner John Lee Hooker on the spirited vocals, with jaw-harp courtesy of Brian Hawkins. She revisits that lover who’s “got nothing left to lose” in the poignant “River Of Tears,” where “my heart’s just an empty hole,” and Sturgis joins in for a duet on a Delta-inspired cut, his original “Drowning Blues.”
We had two favorites, too. The title cut starts with a cool slide intro before gettin’ on the glory train where “these blues are Sanctified,” built around a Sun-drenched rockabilly groove. And, Lucero’s legendary piano man, Rick Steff, lays down the 88’s and the accordion over a second-line pattern and Mandy’s wailin’ vocal on the Big Easy groove of “Here Comes The Flood.”
With “Sanctified,” Mandy and Sturgis empower their near-spiritual connection to the blues while delivering a set that’s sure to continue the acclaim they received from their first two sets. And, the real winners are all us fans! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow.
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