Roseanne Reid – Trails
Last Man Music – 5 April 2019
Roseanne Reid has quietly taken her place in the Scottish music scene and by no accident finds herself sitting at the top table with “Trails”, an exceptional record consisting of 12 songs, all exploring, from various perspectives, the human condition.
Album opener ‘Amy’ is a bittersweet love song; “Don’t choose the girl that always leaves”, the perfect introduction to her music and on which won the ‘Lyrics only’ category at the Nashville based International Song Competition. This was no mean feat considering the 160 000 entries she was up against; a young lass from Scotland is recognised as the best!
On ‘Out in Space’ you can hear what I imagine is her everyday accent as she sings:
“With push and pull we scream and listen
to get right to the limits of the human condition
I break the banks and let the water flow”
Throughout the rest of the album, her accent is nuanced by her material which for want of another description is Americana.
With Teddy Thompson as producer, he has very subtly led us from her more familiar guitar only accompaniment to a slightly fuller sound. By the end of the album there have been numerous gear changes, both musically and in production but never losing sight of Roseanne’s unique strengths, namely her songs and her singing. Everything on the album is unfussy and when the bass and piano are introduced it adds a background colour to the song but it’s the voice and guitar that deliver the story.
Following a similar theme to ‘Amy’, on ‘Heading North’ we are teased with a little bit of lap steel before the bass and drums add some zip to another story of love in a difficult place. There is also some very sparing use of organ that appears throughout the album. It is, however, Roseanne’s voice and delivery that captivates.
On first listening, I was surprised at how spare the production is on ‘Trails’. I would have thrown the entire population of Brooklyn (where it was recorded in four days) at it but that’s why Teddy Thompson is sat in the producer’s chair. Every one of the songs on the album would lend itself to backing vocals and harmonies but it’s only on ‘River’ that Teddy allows himself a very low-key delicate cameo as a backing vocalist. It’s a hypnotic song, the rhythm of which exactly matches that of a river gently meandering along. There must be a word for that?
Just as the album settles into a low key singer/guitar vibe I’m transported back to the sixties with a life affirming, uplifting but soulful ‘Love Her So’; smoking saxophones and red hot vocals: who would have thought?
“You’re a walking, talking second chance, girl
And I’m gonna get it right this time”
If there was any doubt that Roseanne Reid could belt it out and front her own band there isn’t now.
From quiet introspective acoustic guitar-led folk songs to a touch of soul, ‘It is You’ then introduces more than a hint of Cajun into the mix. It fairly rattles along with insistent snare drum, bass and Hammond organ setting the tone accompanied by a different aspect of Roseanne’s voice. Slightly more mellow and relaxed: wild heather honey.
“I was born by the railroad with a ball and chain
I was born, not a penny to my name
When I look at you
I know you were the same”
My favourite album track, ‘Levi’ is beyond beautiful. It’s a tale of unrequited love, a constant component of the human condition and if there is anyone out there for whom this doesn’t resonate, lucky them. Levi watches as the girl he adores gets on with life. Totally unaware of his feelings she devastates him by disappointment.
“The girl with the sunshine, she didn’t mean to make you cry
You just forgot to tell her how you’ve been feeling Levi”
Emotions are heightened by guitar and cello, and then:
“It’s a small crime, suddenly waking up at twenty-nine
All these years just toeing lines, with your empty arms
You lie awake, counting every chance you didn’t take”
No happy ending I’m afraid as: “The right man, slips a ring on her left hand”
Everything about this album is excellent. Just as we are left in despair by the plight of Levi ‘Me Oh My’ introduces a bit of rockabilly that bounces along with a procession of drums, piano and fiddle in the background with Roseanne’s voice at the top of the mix.
When she was 21 Roseanne was given a present of a trip to the “Steve Earle songwriting convention” she was noticed by the great man and a number of songs have a “Steve Earle” sound to them. ‘Miles Away’ is one, a tale of love and separation, and ‘Sweet Annie’ is another. When she decided to make Sweet Annie a duet, she fired an e-mail to the man himself, more in hope than expectation. Fortune favoured the bold, and the rest of us. Sweet Annie is sublime, the voices combine like chilli chocolate cake. You think it can’t possibly work and it blows you away. Again, Teddy Thompson excels with his production, abiding by the maxim of less is more.
The penultimate ‘Take it From Me’ is a song that Hank Williams would have been proud of before the album heads towards a distinctive minor key for the closer ‘What I’ve Done’, a song of non-redemption that is as dark as a tub of molasses. Somehow, because of what has preceded we’re left with a little bit of hope and a lot of satisfaction.
I saw Roseanne Reid supporting The Young’uns early last year where her presentation was low key, probably an understatement, but her connection with the audience was immediate, her playing and singing were faultless.
I admit to being a fan of female song writers, often American. I had the privilege of seeing Mary Gauthier and Gretchen Peters in the last year and Roseanne Reid mines from the same bottomless pit of pathos and descriptiveness as they do. Lyricists abound, but some have the undefinable knack of making an observation and then finding just a few words to capture that observation absolutely. They are rare. Trails is simply a brilliant album.
Roseanne Reid is a performer who has obviously worked hard to perfect her craft, and who takes her writing very seriously. I will be very surprised if some of these songs don’t turn up on other recordings over the next few years. I’ll also be surprised if she is not a major act in the UK, European and US music scenes.
I’m heading to see Roseanne supporting Justin Townes Earle in Glasgow on June 26th, she is playing 7 dates with him and also various shows of her own. Catch her if you can.
Trails is out now. Order via Amazon
For more details visit: https://www.roseannereid.com