Tedeschi Trucks Band caters to all tastes
There’s something for everyone on the GRAMMY-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band’s new album Signs, out on February 15 on Fantasy Records/Caroline Australia.
- Southern man keeping it real
- Cooder’s wry look at dystopia
- Damien Rice pulls strings
- Bob Dylan still reinventing the wheel
There’s something for everyone on the GRAMMY-winning 12-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band’s new album Signs, released on February 15 on Fantasy Records/Caroline Australia.
The 11 tracks range over a variety of styles — from hard driving rock, through soul and funk to bluesy, heartbreaking ballads featuring Susan Tedeschi’s gorgeous husky voice and her husband Derek Trucks’ phenomenal guitar mastery.
If there’s any criticism of this rolled gold collection of new originals it is that it is perhaps a little too varied — more of a play list than a cohesive album.
The opener Signs High Times is like an introduction to the band — Trucks’ distorted slide guitar makes way for Tedeschi’s unmistakeable growl, followed by a round robin of vocals from other members, all backed by a Muscle Shoals-style horn section, congas and groovy bass.
Tasteful strings fill out the compelling beat of I’m Gonna Be There, the longest track, which has the feel of a commercial soul hit single with Trucks’ soaring solo serving as a memorable outro.
SPIRIT
Hard Case is the first actual single released from the album and it certainly moves along smoothly with some catchy hooks. Tedeschi’s voice here sounds like a cross between Bonny Raitt and Maggie Bell — doesn’t get much better.
Her ability with a ballad is on display with the lovely melancholic All The World and the tuneful Strengthen What Remains.
If you think there’s an element of deja vu about some of the tracks you’re right. Trucks earned his stripes with the Allman Brothers — his uncle Butch was the band’s drummer and a founding member — playing alongside Gregg Allman as a 10-year-old guitar prodigy.
Both musicians died during the period Signs was being recorded, as did long-time Allmans collaborator and friend Leon Russell, but their spirit lives on in some of the tracks, especially They Don’t Shine.
To add more of a retro feel the album was recorded on analog tape in the couple’s studio Swamp Raga — home of their previous releases Already Free, Revelator and Made Up Mind. Trucks worked on the production alongside Jim Scott (The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty).
It all ends with an instant classic — an acoustic blues ballad The Ending.
● You can pre-order the CD from JB Hi-Fi for $19.99, $42.99 for the vinyl.
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