The Delines – Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom: A Masterclass in Soulful Americana Storytelling
Reviewing a new Delines record is one of those rare pleasures that carries its own quiet pressure. Their albums are so rich, so cinematic, so emotionally precise that capturing their essence in words feels like trying to summarise a great American novella. Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom is no exception — it’s another beautifully realised chapter in the band’s singular body of work.
The Delines remain a remarkable collective. Fronted by the incomparable Amy Boone on vocals, the band features Cory Gray (keyboards, trumpet, flugelhorn), Sean Oldham (drums, percussion, vocals), Freddy Trujillo (bass, vocals), and Willy Vlautin (guitar, vocals), who also pens every song. Vlautin’ s reputation as an acclaimed novelist — praised by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times — continues to shape the band’s identity. His lyrics read like distilled short stories, populated by romantic misfits, down‑and‑outers, and the quietly desperate.
The supporting cast on this album is equally impressive. Tucker Jackson adds shimmering pedal steel; Mark Powers contributes additional percussion; Noah Bernstein colours the edges with saxophones; Amanda Lawrence brings violin and viola; and Collin Oldham deepens the emotional palette with cello. Together, they help build the lush, slow‑burning world that The Delines inhabit so naturally.
Recorded at Bocce Studios in Vancouver, Washington, the album was produced, engineered, and mixed by John Morgan Askew, whose warm, spacious touch suits the band perfectly. Cory Gray’s horn and string arrangements are a highlight throughout — subtle, soulful, and never overstated.
Musically, Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom leans into the band’s signature blend of soul‑soaked Americana. The tempos are unhurried, the chords often drifting around those velvety minor 7ths and 9ths, and the horns feel like late‑night confessions. Boone’s voice remains one of the great instruments in contemporary music — intimate, bruised, and capable of raising the hairs on your neck in the way only the finest 70s soul singers could. Think Roberta Flack or Gladys Knight but filtered through the twilight hush of a Portland barroom.
Lyrically, the album is a gallery of vivid characters — Lorraine, Maureen, Nancy, one‑legged Carl — each sketched with Vlautin’s trademark compassion. Quoting a Delines lyric is almost unfair, like tearing a paragraph from a short story, but the opening of “Left Hook Like Frazer” shows the depth of his storytelling. These aren’t songs built on slogans or choruses; they’re lived‑in portraits of people trying to survive the long night.
If you’re looking for jangly guitars or Nashville gloss, you won’t find it here. Think Midnight Train to Georgia crossed with a female‑fronted Boz Scaggs and you’re closer to the truth. Personal highlights include “Left Hook Like Frazer” and the haunting “Maureen’s Gone Missing,” though the album works best as a complete, slow‑unfolding experience.
Having followed The Delines for over a decade — from that first show in Manchester to recent gigs and with Liverpool already on next year’s calendar — I can say with certainty that Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom is a superb addition to their already impressive canon. It deepens their world, sharpens their craft, and confirms what long‑time listeners already know: nobody else is making music quite like this.
Get your copy here: https://thedelines.com
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: The Delines “The Sea Drift”
