REVIEW: Diane And The Gentle Men Brilliantly Bridge The Gap Between Americana And Alt/Indie With “The White Sea”

With the release of their album The White Sea (Velvet Elk Records), Diane and the Gentle Men provide the prospective listener a vibrant collection of songs about life, love, and heartbreak that deftly traverse and meld the two beloved Rock sub-genres of Americana and Alternative / Indie into a mesmerizing mixture of distinctly original musical creations that defy easy labeling.

Brandishing two Alternative music notables Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate) and Jesse Malin (D Generation) as producers of a number of the 11 tracks, this album breathlessly offers songs that drip poignancy and emotional urgency and that virtually reach through your speakers, grab your ears, and demand attention.

Frontwoman singer/ songwriter Diane Gentile uses her impassioned vocals to unify the lean and strong playing of her band with these wide-ranging and memorable compositions to create an album that should easily be considered one of 2020’s best.

Close your eyes and imagine a female voice that effortlessly sounds like a cross between the country rocking of Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt and the punkish new wave attitude laced singing of Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde and you’ll get a glimpse of the breadth of Gentile’s prodigious talent. 

She possesses one of the greatest qualities a singer can possess and that is the ability to make the listener feel what she is feeling. From the in your face exuberance of ‘“Motorcycle,” the twangy fire of “Perfect People,” the unrestrained joy of “Boyfriend,” the beauty affirming “ Little Things,” the tough and optimistic pleading of “Wicked Hours,” the haunting “ Just Pretend,” the emotionally layered lamenting of “Joe” to the sparse and mournful “ Second Hand Heart,” Gentile makes all of these songs crackle and pop with her unstoppable and stirring vocals. 

Over and over in the refrain to the aforementioned “Motorcycle”, Gentile relays to her partner on the bike that “You give me something I gotta believe in”, words that could easily be used to describe a first-time listener’s reaction to hearing her and her magnificently talented band play their wonderfully diverse songs.

The White Sea will be available April 17th on dianegentile.com and on velvetelkrecords.com

Credits: Musicians: Diane Gentile/Vocals, guitar, Piano (BMI), Jason Victor/Guitar (ASCAP), Matt Basile/Bass, guitar, keys, percussion (BMI), Colin Brooks/Drums, percussion (ASCAP), Guest musicians: Alfonso Velez/Keys, Background Vocals, Gregg Foreman/Piano, Keys, Mark Bosch/Guitar, Producers: Jesse Malin, Steve Wynn, Matt Basile, Diane Gentile, Mixers: Clif Norell, Geoff Sanoff, Matt Basile Engineers: Brian Thorn, Geoff Sanoff, Matt Basile, All songs Mastered by Fred Kevorkian at Fred Kevorkian Mastering. “The White Sea” Written by Diane Gentile and Alfonso Velez. All other songs written by Diane and the Gentle Men.