ALBUM REVIEW: Robert Finley Expands His Range on ‘Black Bayou’
Jim Shahen
Posted On October 24, 2023
The spotlight may be shining on Robert Finley relatively late in life, but the bombastic blues singer is making the most of his moment. His 2021 LP Sharecropper’s Son was his coming out party, a dynamic blend of blues and gritty Southern soul (ND review). A stint opening for rockers Greta Van Fleet’s 2022 arena tour and serving as the face of Easy Eye Sound’s recent label showcase and compilation Tell Everybody! (ND review) has only served to further raise the 69-year-old’s profile.
Finley is back this week with Black Bayou. Just as with Sharecropper’s Son, the record is produced by and conceived with Easy Eye label head and Black Keys singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach. While Sharecropper’s Son relied on material and arrangements that presented Finley as a larger-than-life personality and soul-and-blues man, Black Bayou’s swampier blues and some subtler arrangements offer a versatile range of material that reveals the wide expanse of his vocal prowess.
Musically, “Sneakin’ Around” sounds very much like the Otis Redding-Carla Thomas classic “Tramp.” Finley tells a tale of being done wrong, but instead of presenting it as a lamentation, he’s exclamatory and a little playful in his delivery. “What Goes Around (Comes Around)” nicely weds Delta blues with Auerbach’s brand of blues-rock, and Finley crushes it, offering up the bold, booming voice that’s become his bread and butter.
For a different stylistic look, there’s “Lucky Day.” It’s more of a doo-wop ballad in construct, and rather than go all out, Finley opts for a more subdued performance with heartfelt nuance. Heightened by a choir of female background singers, the approach pays off. The result is one of the best tracks on Black Bayou.
The LP closes with “Alligator Bait.” The track is a slow burn, the band vamping on a low-key, swampy groove. Finley waxes autobiographical about his childhood in Louisiana and his experience being used as alligator bait by his grandfather. Aside from the chorus of “Alligator bait / I coulda got ate,” Finley doesn’t even sing; he just matter-of-factly spins his story. It makes for a compelling, unexpected listen and, like much of the material on Black Bayou, highlights that he’s more than a fantastically outsized voice.
Robert Finley’s Black Bayou is out Oct. 27 via Easy Eye Sound.
