Saving Grace is an unexpected and charming musical surprise, courtesy of one of rock’s most revered crooners. Warning! This album is mostly folk, country, and bluegrass music. And to add to the shock it is well recorded to boot.
Robert Plant’s recent musical collaborations have led him away from rock into the arms into country, by far most popular music in the US today, as well as towards folk and bluegrass. A collaboration with Gillian Welch has produced the frightening sight of Plant, a son of the midlands, donning a big Texan cowboy hat as part of his new good ole boy persona.
This tireless musician has not rested and seemingly has not even found time to sleep for one second for the past 30 or so years. He has produced countless albums and crisscrossed the blue planet many times. He has led or been a part of about 40 albums, and countless other musical escapades, be they in audio or video form.
Savings Grace continues his discovery of American styles and traditions, it combines a famous blues titles, bluegrass, spirituals, folk rock, and one track that is, in a way, a nod to a world music sound that he once made famous with Jimmy Page on their No Quarter album in 1994. According to the blurb, the music on Saving Grace is a reimagining of various songs made famous by Memphis Minnie, Moby Grape, Blind Willie Johnson, The Low Anthem, Martha Scanlan and Sarah Siskind.
The most famous son of West Bromwich, who still resides in the UK, is joined on the album by Suzi Dian (vocals, accordion), Oli Jefferson (drums, percussion, backing vocals) Tony Kelsey (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, backing vocals) Barney Morse-Brown ( cello) and Matt Worley (banjo, vocals, acoustic guitar, cuatro). They have played together for years, which explains the close synergy of instruments and voices throughout. Despite the style they are playing, they all hail from good old Blighty, and were not packing guns while riding their steel horses to the recording studio.
The album feels short despite being almost 42 minutes long, the review sample was a 24/96 download from the German High Res Audio site, it is a very fine recording with immense depth and an eerily realistic and dimensional sense of the acoustic of the studio it was recorded in. It places the two main vocalists (Plant and Dian) in the centre with Dian just off to the right and ahead of Plant, with instruments behind them to the left and the right in a sound stage that nearly makes the speakers disappear. There is a slightly processed and artificial feel in places that was created by electrification of some of the otherwise completely acoustic instruments used for the session. But fear not, it doesn’t undermine the very commendable quality of the recording.
Very highly recommended for fans of English and American folk styles, it will create a joyful noise in the ears of those who follow Plant and his prodigious volume of work, and for those who wish to discover mellifluous and even more so, English, interpretations of some of the most iconic musical styles.
The album has been out since September and will be supported by a UK tour by Plant and the Saving Grace band through December, gigs will be held in Portsmouth, Eastbourne, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, and York (on Christmas eve no less).
Best tracks: Ticket Taker, Gospel Plough
Available as a 24/96 FLAC for the very low price of $10.00, on the record label’s site.
Reuben Klein