The album opens with “Just Getting Started,” an
empowering song, full of energy and attitude, a good rocking number that
demands some volume from your stereo. This is one you might want to sing along
to, or shout along to. “You can’t stop me
now/You can’t stop me now/I’m just getting started.” Onward! “Just Getting
Started” is followed by “Love Yourself,” which begins with some good percussion
to get your body moving. “When they go
low, you go high/Do unto others, even when we don’t see eye to eye/You’ve got
to learn to forgive the people thinking about themselves/You can’t love nobody
until you love yourself.” Yeah, there are some tough lessons in this song,
particularly these days. We all want to take the high road, but it’s difficult
when the lowest road is crowded with those in positions of power and their
devoted, demented followers. “You know I
love my country/But she sure enough can make me cry/Just imagine how great we’d
be if we were unified.”
“Sugar My Tongue” also begins by establishing a beat, and
is more about pure, sexy fun than the first two tracks. This one has something
of a classic soul vibe, with some disco elements. Michelle’s vocals are
smoother here, sounding like the sugar she sings about. Peter Stroud joins the
group on electric guitar for this track. That’s followed by “Beast’s Boogie,” a
raw blues gem that comes on strong with a thumping and some good work on harmonica.
This one also rocks, and should get you dancing, or at least stomping your feet.
This line amuses me every time I listen to this song: “He was the Sonny to her Cher, the petrol to her match.”
The album’s only cover is “I’ve Been Loving You Too
Long,” that gorgeous Otis Redding song, and Michelle Malone does a fantastic
job with it, delivering an excellent, impressive vocal performance. Interestingly,
it’s done as a duet with Shawn Mullins. He does a fantastic job too. Of course,
as a duet, the song has a different feel, as we learn both people in the
relationship feel the same way, so it doesn’t have quite the same heartache. By
the way, Shawn Mullins also sings on Day2, the 2012 album that turned me on to Michelle Malone.
Randall Bramblett is also featured on that earlier album (and on 2014’s Acoustic Winter). I’ve
been impressed by Randall Bramblett’s songwriting, and on this album he and
Michelle Malone co-wrote one track, “Fox And The Hound.” It’s more of a rocking
bluesy song. “If I were a rocket, you’d
be the fuel/We’d explode with a deafening sound as we take to the moon/Or Venus
or Saturn, you never can tell/Well, I’m going wherever you’re going, come
heaven or hell.”
The tone at the start of “Civil War” is like angry folk,
then it too takes on a heavier vibe. “Since
I took your name, it’s only caused me misery/Like when you call me baby, and
raise your hand to me/The bullets in the barrel/Don’t make me bring the hammer
down.” This is a strong track, and it features some good work on harmonica.
In “The Flame,” Michelle sings, “There’s
too much darkness in here to see/And I’m so tired of misery.” Yup, that
about sums it up for a lot of us these days. “Don’t give me that bad news, I can’t read it anymore/Ain’t nothing but
the sad blues piling up by my door/Trust is gone now, but hope remains.”
And that’s the truth too: we still have hope. There is something pretty and
moving about this song. “The Flame” was written by Michelle Malone and Eliot
Bronson. The CD then concludes with “Boxing Gloves,” another powerful track, in
which Michelle sings, “I took off my
boxing gloves and I found that I was stronger.”
CD Track List
- Just Getting Started
- Love Yourself
- Sugar On My Tongue
- Beast’s Boogie
- I’ve Been Loving You Too Long
- Fox And The Hound
- Civil War
- Matador
- The Flame
- Boxing Gloves
Slings & Arrows
is scheduled to be released on March 2, 2018.
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