In the old Forum on ‘my’ outstanding purchases thread someone (sorry forgotten who) posted about the The Delines ‘Imperial’.
Really enjoying this soulful country/americana album and have also added their first ‘The Colfax’ from Bandcamp. This has a similar if slightly less sophisticated feel and is very good too.
The Imperial reminded me of the first Natalie Prass album (I have not heard the follow up) and both also of one of my favourite americana artists; ‘Dolorean’. They made three fine but generally neglected albums, the last ‘The Unfazed’ is probably the best. Nothing revolutionary but good songs and a great male vocalist.
The video below is the last track. It has become a default demo track too as it is also a fine recording.
(well it would be if I knew how to embed a video, so click the link instead)
I too have just bought both albums by The Delines (The Imperial and Colfax) - agree with the Natalie Prass echoes (and would add Matthew E White, for the same reason).
Mandatory suggestion that anyone who enjoys The Delines might also like Willy Vlautin’s other band, Richmond Fontaine. Their purple patch from “Post To Wire” to “We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River” is one of those four-album runs that rivals the Rolling Stones’ 68-72 catalogue for sustained brilliance for me.
I have Colfax too and it’s very good. I need to investigate more of their work. Willy Vlautin ( who is in the Delines) has also released some good work with Richmond Fontaine. I have the latest Natalie Prass album as well and like it a lot - this album is produced by Matthew E White.
Agree with all the comments on both the Delines albums. Just to add on the subject of Natalie Prass, i have now seen her live probably 4 or 5 times as she seems to be over in London fairly regularly. It’s always a good show and her voice in concert is much stronger and impressive than perhaps you would expect from her recordings. Matthew e white is great too, and I have heard him say that he is particularly appreciative of the UK audience, as he feels particularly appreciated over here.
I saw Natalie Prass at Bush Hall, London, last year. I confess that I thought the material from her first album was much better than from her second album. Her encore - a version of “Violently” - was astonishingly good. I really rather like the vulnerability and fragility of her voice on that first album.
I saw Matthew E White at Village Underground, London, in 2015. It was ok, but he should have used a better sound engineer, as the sound and levels from the two guitars didn’t gel properly, and it made for a somewhat unsatisfactory experience. As above, I have to say I prefer the first album to the second, but long may he continue…