Chambers DesLauriers – Our Time To Ride
This is a blues duo effort cooked up with lots of steam & flavors by Annika Chambers (lead vocals/bgv/handclaps) & Paul DesLauriers (guitars/vocals/bgv/handclaps). They start their blues set with one hell of an intense showcase with “Love You Just The Same.” Paul’s searing guitar is the perfect contrast to Annika’s punctuating soulful blues vocals. It’s not like the standard blues since there’s a bit more instrumental vibrancy that percolates to near overflowing. But ah, what an aroma.
With “People Gonna Talk,” there’s a slice of Motown production sprinkled liberally with Stax/Muscle Shoals tenderizing. Quite cool. The brass bristles from the bellows of the tradition of the Bar-Kays (“Soul Finger”) & Arthur Conley (“Sweet Soul Music”). The guitar sticks & stabs & the drums thud with authority. Annika swims through effortlessly with the ease of a backstroke.
What makes Ms. Chambers’ blues appealing on the 9-track Our Time To Ride (Drops Aug 22/Forty Below Records/41:13) is her skill at sparking just enough soulfulness into her vocal lines. She’s not a pop soul singer like Diana Ross, a siren like the late Minnie Riperton, or a soul-infused singer like Aretha Franklin. But if you strike a flint of Gladys Knight against the steel of a Mavis Staples – you’d ignite an Annika Chambers. Stand back. “Believe In Love” is an excellent example.
Mr. DesLauriers manages to leave behind in his wake ripples in a lake of colorful guitar runs with marvelous soundscapes. More in a Southern R&R incarnation is “Our Time To Ride,” which the Allman Brothers would’ve loved to have hijacked. Nice stuff with headphones & Annika certainly rocks hard when she needs to, while “Sing” is quite different from the rest. It draws more on a style often used by folk/blues/gospel singer/guitarist Toshi Reagon. It’s a blues dipped in a more spiritual marinade. Some tunes are based on solid dance grooves, laid out with funky carvings, some deep & some not so much. It allows for a temperature-controlled swing like Sly & the Family Stone — to a degree.
But then Annika turns up the blue pilot light into a James Brown foot stomper. “In the Heart of the Night” would leave callouses on handclapping palms. The guitar is a 5-alarm fire throughout & the drums are divine. The recordings were produced by Eric Corne (bgv) & made in Montreal, QC, Los Angeles, CA, & Houston, TX. The CD package is a handsome laminated 4-panel die-cut piece.
Highlights – “Love You Just The Same,” “People Gonna Talk,” “Believe In Love,” “Our Time To Ride,” “Sing,” & “In the Heart of the Night.”
Musicians – Gary Davenport (bass), Sly Coulombe (drums/percussion), Sasha Smith (piano/Wurlitzer/organ/clavinet), Jesse O’Brien (piano), Mark Pender (trumpets), David Ralicke (saxophones), & Nicoya Polar (bgv).
CD photo courtesy of Guy Brooksbank. CD @ Amazon & Apple + https://fortybelowrecords.com/store-bU6aL/p/cdottr & https://annikaandpaul.com/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Song Premiere: Chambers DesLauriers “Written in the Stars”