Oh Canada, ya surely now how to nurture Blues artists. Especially lady blues artists. Here we re-visit a friend Sunday Wilde and it’s like old friends getting together again, good times guaranteed.
First off I am drawn to ‘No Matter How Far’. From the wilds of Northern Ontario we hear traces of Patsy Cline, as the band works it’s melancholy mood over the music as Ms. Wilde thickly vocalizes the depths of the love for her man and in spite of the distance, that it still is strong and burns hot inside her.
A short while later we hear the other side of the life with ‘Tell Me To Hush?’ Opining about why should a man tell a women like her to ‘honey hush hush’ as she counts the ways that he is out of line and how he has no need to confront her about anything. Smoky, haunting guitar work perfectly fills in the dark corners with just enough light but not too much. After all some things are better with less than more light.
The eternal appreciation of how her chosen man does what he does is apparent in ‘He Thrills Me Up’. Ms. Wilde’s vocals provides a jaunty ride down the country road as the acoustic and slide guitar play about like two cabbage moths dancing in the breeze. There is a feel good tone to this track that just makes one smile.
We get to take a peek ‘down the alley’ and into the world of obsession and the total commitment that it takes to live and appreciate it. Shadows of Billie Holiday and the many other Blues Ladies stir to greet Ms. Wilde as she sings of having not eaten, or taken care of herself since she found this love. She is on a ‘Love Bender’. The similarity to serious drug addiction is not lost on Ms. Wilde as she rides the waves of ecstatic emotions – yet wonders why it fades so fast, and at what final cost. ‘Love Bender’ is, simply put, an amazing song.
Thirteen tracks, twelve originals of remarkable depth and feeling with the only cover being a totally unique version of ‘Amazing Grace’. I have never heard such an approach to this song. It is often said that when an artist covers a standard (or any song) they should add something of their own self to it, to make it their own, well here it is in spades. Give this ‘cover’ some ear, you won’t believe how fresh and new it sounds, it’s totally Sunday and totally great.
Love, Peace & Chicken Grease,
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