Jhett Black – Babel
Rumblestump Records
11 tracks
Rootsy, gutsy blues offered up with a deep baritone voice and modernized Delta Blues sound, Jhett Black offers a unique take on music. Heavy, dark and brooding music with ten new tracks and a Freddie King cover are featured on this album.
Black hails from the Southwestern US and his music is described as Southern Gothic. Blending the sounds of the Delta, Hill Country, underground roots rock and Gospel. Black delivers powerful performances.
The lineup is sparse. The band is Black on all instruments except drums and Dusty Skins is on drums. Black leads the band with deep, dark vocals. Bass and harp are added on one track by Robbie Coleman and Joe Waters and one another is Dena on bass, keys and percussion.
There are songs with some Biblical themes like “Eve,’ the title cut, “Wayward Son” and “Devil Ain’t An Only Child.” they are dark and even hypnotic at times. Then there are driving, hot cuts like “Sonic Tonic,” “Roll Out,” “Mamma Told Me Not To,” and “12 Bar Blues Again.” Lastly, slower and dark tracks like “Eulogy: and “Gold” change the pace. The common thread is deep, resonant vocals, driving, forceful guitar and throbbing beats. Sometimes it feels like devil is speaking to us and other times it’s other times it’s just heavy, emotional stuff. Unique stuff.
Freddy King’s “Going Down: gets a work over with a Blacks resounding voice and howling tones. The guitar rings, but in a deep and dark manner, concluding a dark album filled with mostly guitar and drums. For the most part there is no bass, just the tribal and rhythmic sound of percussion and guitar and howling vocals.
It’s certainly a different album. If you want something new and way out of the norm, then perhaps this needs checking out. It takes traditional sounds and styles and transforms them into a dark and deep world of it’s own. It truly is blues, but coming from the depths of a troubled part of the soul.
