The Felice Brothers – Valley of the Abandoned Songs
It isn’t that I like quirky showcases or strange music, but what I admire is how an artist(s) can prepare their relatively standard music & yet, present it with so much originality & creativity as to render it unique. This is basically what The Felice Brothers do on this new collection gathered on Valley of the Abandoned Songs (Dropped June 27/MillionStars).
Produced by The Felice Brothers with Nate Wood the 13 exuberant tales are tightly woven with interesting words & music — quite a signature of work. Recorded in New York State the songs maintain a rural upstate quality with a suburban folk ebullience. There’s nothing here that imitates anyone or anything musically. Oh, some qualities are inherent as reminders but they never sound mimicked. The group utilizes instruments with informal purity, adds sounds you don’t hear often to embellish the warm-hearted persona of each piece.
At times I feel the group knows how to incorporate the melodies of masterful English songwriters & troubadours (Clifford T. Ward, David McWilliams, Al Stewart & Gerry Rafferty) against the ruralist identity of America. Even the lyrics have been carefully sifted through a colander of imagination. No cliches, no novelty silliness just clean balladry with striking well-developed melodies.
Even the song titles sound like they were Americanized versions of what the great Scottish band The Blue Nile would pull out of a hat. Despite their penchant for well-delivered hothouse American roots rock that isn’t a mainstream fabrication for pop hits this band succeeds in penetrating the sweet tooth of any ear.
This is, in a perfect world, what some of today’s pop music should sound like. It isn’t serious as much as simply truthful, accurate, enticing & not annoyingly repetitive. Why other artists can’t achieve this level of versatility is beyond me. And it will always be. Maybe I’m the old-school musician who wants what I write to matter. This matters.
You can tell immediately these songs weren’t written while sitting on the toilet during a rain storm. These are well-thought-out journeys, poignant, influenced & indulgent. While not as pop jivey as The Korgis or inventive as The Beatles, The Felice Brothers do have a well-developed melodic perspective. They employ wonderful intuitive leaps (as the group Sparks have for decades) throughout their showcase. In a word, I’m saying they’re not boring.
There are only 4 members yet that’s all that’s needed to shape & form exemplary vocals with smart words to allow their music to maneuver through each arrangement. Now this isn’t the blues, it isn’t soul music or even real barn-burning rock n’ roll. It has a Tin Pan Alley melodicism (“It’s Midnight & The Doves Are In Tears”) with clever lyrical trickles that even reach into the song styles of The Band (“Raccoon, Rooster & Crow”) which sounds like it was lifted from Bob Dylan’s Basement tapes.
I could tell this showcase was going to be of interest by their resourceful song titles.
Color image courtesy of the band’s website gallery. Lyrics are included in the inner sleeve. CD @ https://www.thefelicebrothers.com/ & https://millionstars.merchtable.com/music/the-felice-brothers-valley-of-abandoned-songs-cd/?
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Show Review: The Felice Brothers at StageOne
