Old Salt – Commons
TRAD Records – Out Now
The world sure is getting smaller. Last week I was lucky to see a group called Almost Irish. If you closed your eyes, you would swear they were top trad musicians from the west of Ireland, rather than a collective of Danish friends who grew up listening to their parents’ record collection that included everything from The Dubliners to Planxty. I could almost make the same mistake when Rake and Ramblin’ Boy jump out of the gates to open ‘Commons’, the 2nd album from Belgian band, Old Salt. Its energy and virtuosity hit you like a ton of bricks. If you’d told me I was listening to contemporaries of the Del McCoury band, rather than a bunch of talented youths from the town of Ghent, I would have believed it.
As the pace slows down on the Cherokee Trail, the energy intensifies with a cool deep Parker Millsap style groove that brings the sound of Old Salt right back to the present. Lead singer Dan Wall and his squad show that their original songs can hold their own rightly. Thin Ice that follows has lyrics that I would be proud of myself, and that’s me writing in my first language! I have to point out the fiddle of Lotte Remmen is fantastic, especially in this song, and throughout the rest of the album.
Beeswing is a daring arrangement of the people’s favourite and Old Salt pull it off splendidly. It presents me with a brand new perspective of the song’s narrator. It really is nice to hear it swing. It varies from the original melody a good bit, but Old Salt get away with it, using every bit of their dashing charisma.
Darling Corey is a track that has been floating about this past hundred years or so. The ambient intro almost fools me into thinking that Rhiannon Giddens is about to start singing. That being said, I’m certainly not disappointed to hear Dan Wall return. His voice carries just the right balance between having plenty of character and tone without overdoing it. This song sounds great, as does the record, and reminds me to check out the mixing credits, so a tip of the hat goes to Sean Sullivan at Butcher Shoppe Studios, Nashville.
Shades is a gorgeous original track. It betrays deeper influences than just Americana contemporaries. As it builds, there’s a complexity to the structure, off rhythms and Eastern European folk melodies. This is where Old Salt are at their strongest, and it comfortably sits as one of my favourites from the album. The fact that I get a pleasant surprise every time the yodelling kicks in, is a bonus.
It’s track seven and Old Salt are still showing yet more strings to their bow. Boll Weevil is an epic piece that I can only imagine is an absolute killer when performed live. The harmonies, the arrangements, the duality between strings and most of all, the vibe. It’s all brilliant. Every musician on this album is excellent, but in the last two songs, I’m constantly bowled over by Lara Rossell on Double Bass.
Blackest Crow is a song that you have probably heard many times before, but this version stands toe to toe with the best of them. Grow, written this time by Johannes Wannyn on guitar, arrives and brings with it a welcome freshness. It’s an excellent example of how, as a band, Old Salt use everything in their armoury to deliver music that continually challenges the genre.
Nine Pound Hammer hits hard as it should, but Farmer’s Anthem is such a cool way to finish. Every band member is singing flat out over blasting percussion. That’s the thing about this group, everyone sings from the same hymn sheet, and they do so with warm, charismatic confidence.
It may seem strange on paper that a blend of folk based in Belgium can make music that we lazily label as Americana. However, it does make perfect sense. The genre itself is the result of a years-old melting pot of folk music from the world over, and of it, Old Salt are a microcosm. A band from Ghent with the imagination, virtuosity and textures of Goat Roper Rodeo Band, the songs and arrangements of Alison Krauss of Union Station, the vocals of Mumford, but even more importantly, they sound like nothing but Old Salt.
Hear Old Salt on our Folk Show: Episode 65
