Little Diamonds - New Orleans Bound
The sophomore album from a songwriter is usually a
proving ground about whether or not they have the staying power to make a career
out of this. Little Diamonds’ second release New Orleans Bound not only
improves on the high quality of his debut 1st Rail, it moves the
goalposts substantially and establishes a whole new bar for success that
signals this is an artist committed to realizing the fullness of his artistic
potential. This is a professional recording through and through that balances
out the relatively narrow range of instrumental voices with the central musical
force on the album, Little Diamonds’ own voice. He has come a long way from
winning a Bob Dylan impersonation contest and is rapidly evolving into one of
the most respected performers and songwriters on the Americana scene. There are
twelve songs on this album that testify to a talent deserving of such a reputation.
There’s a John Prine-esque turn to the album’s
first two songs “I Don’t Know About You” and “Never Met You at All”, but it’s
never over-exaggerated to the point of outright parody. Diamonds is a
multi-instrumentalist, but his work on acoustic guitar is particularly
impressive and the musical hinge upon which these dozen songs swing. He has a
clearly articulated style and his playing remains steady throughout while
adding countless low-key embellishments to give the progressions some added
flair. “12-12-12” is much more Little Diamonds’ own confection and owes little
to anyone. The light humor has a delicious dark twist, but it isn’t so black as
to drag down the listeners’ emotions. Instead, the band arrangement he adopts
and the brisk pace they set come together to make for an exceptionally nice
performance. His vocal is full of great phrasing that plays up the song’s
comedic elements some, but concentrates much more on tailoring the singing as
closely as possible to the music.
“Duluth Grandma” has stronger lyric imagery than
any previous song and showcases his skills for creating characters to inhabit
his songs. It creates an effect of eavesdropping on a life and being able to
observe without having to pay a penalty for what we hear and see. These are immensely
human songs and “Duluth Grandma” has even more humanity than most. “Old Man Al”
has a similar template, but it isn’t quite as dark and the musical
accompaniment provided by Diamonds’ guitar is a little less intricate than we
heard on the preceding track. His guitar takes a very direct approach on “Come
Back Here” and the majority of the song’s melodic content comes from the
beautifully phrased fiddle accompanying Diamonds. This song has good natured
warmth that some of the recent songs have lacked and it comes at a good place.
The upbeat mood continues with the album’s title
track. “New Orleans Bound” is full, musically and lyrically, with a vivid sense
of possibility. The steel guitar and brass don’t sound at all incongruous
together in this context and Little Diamonds provides a perfect counterweight
to those elements with his plaintive singing. New Orleans Bound is an
impressively unified and clearly conceived musical and lyrical work. Little
Diamonds never sounds uncomfortable or uncertain and the songs have a tightness
of focus that never wastes the listener’s attentions. Few albums in 2016 will
prove as satisfying for fans of Americana music.
9 out of 10 stars
Gilbert Mullis