Reviews:: Li’l Andy All Who Thirst, Come to the Waters
The crossroads; it’s a location that has been discussed by each and every critic trying to delineate between good and evil, heaven and hell and well, blues and no blues. And when it comes to All Who Thirst, Come to the Waters, Montreal country/folk legend Li’l Andy certainly draws a line in the sand, but the thing is, even as he and his stable of talented contributors explore traditional gospel subject matter blended with heartache heavy black country sounds, that line is drawn in the location not the message.
Li’l Andy settled into Montreal’s Église St. Jean Baptiste and let the powerful setting dictate the feel and weight of the recording session. He wanted to create a record that weaved and floated around the powerful room instead of contrasting its history with bluesy stomps and emotionally charged hollers and as a result, you sink into the effort instantly. Andy avoids overused imagery and black and white absolutes, preferring to pose honest questions taken from his readings and life. These songs required more than a casual thumb through of the good book and the stereotypical emotions we take from the best known tales and Andy more than delivers. He not only transports us all to Calvary, but to the side of a hospital bed and the darkest moments of isolation where the faith you didn’t even know you had is questioned, and does so without pontification or judgment.
Andy challenges society on the powerful Lives of the Saints, revisiting the people that gave their life to serve God and wondering if mankind has not only forgotten their struggles but if we are leaving our neighbours to suffer instead of picking them up. The story of the Samaritan is one we’ve heard for years, but as the band repeats, “on the battlefield for the Lord” over and over, it seems more like a realization than another call to action. We can be better. We should be better. I’m not a religious man but anyone with a soul has to wonder what happens when we die. Was doing the best I could enough? Was I really doing good by my fellow man?
Those types of questions are deeper than a collection of songs, and perhaps that is why All Who Thirst, Come to the Waters is so moving. With precise harmonies, long bended notes, and fantastic use of echoes and shadows we have the freedom and most importantly, the time to get lost in our own thoughts. Andy doesn’t try to give us answers, knowing they might not even exist (and even if they did, he doesn’t have them), but he uses these 48-minutes to make us think. The fact these thought provoking stories are drenched in beautiful, melancholic country goodness is simply another reason why this record is something that should be resting on your CD rack. That and listening to Joseph Grass, Mike O’Brien and Warren Spicer sing/clap along on Jesus Met A Woman At The Wells or the horns blast out of the hush on In Your Name makes you think that at the end of it all, we can still be saved.
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MP3:: Li’l Andy – The Best I Could
WEB:: http://www.myspace.com/lilandyandkaraokecowboy
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 8:55 am and is filed under 2010, Best-of '10, Canada, Montreal, Music, Reviews, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
