ALBUM REVIEW: The Delines Create Rich Characters on ‘The Sea Drift’

Like so many “supergroups” or collaborations, The Delines first seemed like a one-off, their spectacular 2014 debut Colfax something to be savored in case another record wasn’t in the cards. This was especially the case after lead vocalist Amy Boone’s traumatic 2016 car accident. The uncertainty of her recovery delayed the release of their excellent follow-up, The Imperial, to 2019. But the band is showing no signs of stopping with The Sea Drift, the latest world-building collection of songs from the mind of Willy Vlautin. This time, the setting is the Gulf Coast, the characters as richly imagined and fully formed as any introduced to us by this band.

In these songs, light seeps through shades drawn to hide from the relentless heat of the day, bottles of dark booze are drained, and the air smells of hairspray and cigarettes. Boone’s smoky-toned vocals alternate between fly-on-the-wall narration and full embodiment of a person in crisis. “Drowning in Plain Sight” takes on the thankless work of being everything to everyone and getting nothing in return, and the sheer exhaustion of living. “The kid’s ice cream is melting / My husband’s beer is getting warm / The phone starts ringing an hour after I should have been home,” she sings wearily. “This Ain’t No Getaway,” with its strings and horns, tells another tale of desperation and the fear of escape, while “Hold Me Slow” creates something sultrier with the same instruments.

The Delines have a knack for the details, the sensory experiences of their songs so fleshed out and cinematic. Songs like “Little Earl,” “Kid Codeine,” and “Surfers in Twilight” capture a coastline frayed by the trauma of hard living. The Sea Drift’s handful of moody instrumental tracks round it out like a film score. The band’s signature grit and noir cloak The Sea Drift in an inviting darkness, immersing us in the stories of people just trying to get by in an often-cruel world.