(ex) Black Crowe (as he was when this was written-Kellz) goes all mellow on us Dixie sparks up & lays back

The Low-down…Black Crowes Singer goes solo with relaxed results.

The official word is that The Black Crowes are "on hiatus". Now anyone over the age of 14, (which would include 99.5% of the band's fan base) knows that this has the aroma of bullshit around it. They'd been recording and touring for the guts of 15 years, with diminishing returns, ever-increasing pressure from a record company eager to repeat the success of their debut album, Shake Your Money-maker,( 9 million Sales, on the back of 2 massive hit singles). It was getting tougher and tougher for The Black Crowes and it was starting to get to Chris Robinson, their frontman and main face. The man had just got married and the band had put out "Lions, their 6th studio album. There's nothing exceptional about this, until you realise that his new wife was Kate Hudson, rising star, Oscar nominated actress, and daughter of American sweetheart Goldie Hawn. If there was a time to put the band back in the public eye then this was it……………the album bombed. Lions did absolutely nothing, outside of the hardcore Crowes fan, and the message was clear to Chris that it was time to try pastures, if not greener, then most certainly different.
So he folded the band…………..he was now free to do what exactly what he wanted.
And so he did…..
And it is good.
All the arrogance has gone, all the strut, all the swagger, all the gob, all the "us against the world" mentality, all lost in this new version of Chris Robinson.
It's a piece of work, this album…..fuelled by a new-found contentment and personal growth. Inspired by a new wife that he clearly adores, and a new song- writing foil in the shape of Paul Stacey, who has been introduced to him by Oasis' Noel Gallagher, Robinson has relaxed and done what he wants, as opposed to chasing record sales.
No longer are the songs reminiscent of that Stones/Faces /Smith vibe that the Crowes fed us…..It's a relaxed take on the early 70's era that Chris is putting out there. Singer-Songwriters are the order of the day now, Neil Young, James Taylor, and Van Morrison, all play a part on this album, and if you add a drop of artists such as The Band, the Grateful Dead, Derek and the Dominos, and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen…you'll know what's in store.
Opener "Safe in the arms of love" starts us off gently, a percussive riff tumbling towards a chorus that initially seems to have no hook, but will remain in your head for days. It's all laid-back fare…"Silver Car" meanders along to an understated finale, other songs follow suit, but with a style that cuts its way through the tunes with confidence and intent.
The most obvious song, in a lyrical sense is "Katie Dear", quite obviously dedicated to his new muse. It should be awful, songs so emotionally open, rarely work. This does though, carried along by a great melody and an honesty that saves it from being cloying mush. A fine example then, of true love defeating the odds.
"Ride" is the funk outlet, Sly Stones' shadow looming large over proceedings as Mr. Robinson tries to convince us of Afro-Caribbean heritage. The fact that he's like a bottle of milk in a wig, is seemingly irrelevant to him. Again he pulls it off, his new-found love of good organic music
Powering the band to heights that they don't deserve to reach.
When subtlety is required, he duly obliges, "Barefoot by the Cherry Tree" a work of real beauty, his best attempt at a "ballad" since "Girl from a pawnshop" on "3 snakes and 1 charm".
It's all really good stuff…………He's loving it as well, it's easy to tell from the vibe on the tracks how much full he's having with his new band and new lease of life. Casey is a player of real talent. He has a David Gilmour-esque quality to his playing. It is melodic, almost to the point of being almost ghostly in its delivery. Chris can be only happy to have found such a original side-kick, with whom to attempt the next stage of his development as an artist. The bond of 2 brothers must be a hard act to follow, but Mr. Casey seems undeterred by the prospect, playing well throughout the whole record.
It's an album of maturity and no small amount of growth on the part of Chris Robinson. It's a measure of how far he's come as a performer, that it's difficult to envisage the same man who pleads "Could you really love me?" with such sincerity on this work…tuning around and yelping his way through the one -dimensional "Twice as Hard" ever again.
After listening to "New Earth Mud" the obvious question is…………..
Would we care?

Recommended Listening……… Neil Young- Harvest ,Robert Plant - Dreamland

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