Pharis And Jason Romero: “Bet On Love” (2020) CD Review

Pharis and Jason Romero are a husband and wife team based in British Columbia in a place called Horsefly (I had never heard of it, but it looks beautiful). The duo’s 2018 release, Sweet Old Religion, won several awards, including a Juno Award for Traditional Roots Record (their second Juno Award). Now they’ve followed that up with their fifth release, Bet On Love, an excellent album of original material that has a beautifully familiar vibe and features some wonderful vocal work. On this release, the two are joined by Patrick Metzger on bass, and John Reischman on mandolin.

The album opens with “Hometown Blues,” a tune that has a sweet, comforting vibe, even before Pharis’ vocals come in. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “Mama says you go to school and read about a bigger world/How can I believe that it’s all there if I don’t go/How can I believe the world is full of lonely flowers/With these hometown blues.” This track features some nice work on banjo and mandolin, those two instruments sounding so good together. That’s followed by “New Day,” an absolutely gorgeous and moving song, the vocals having a beautiful and friendly and timeless quality, vocals that feel like that they could carry us home, wherever that might be. “When I come to the end of my valley/Reach my final home/I hope you have been with me/And held my hand all along.” This feels like a song that should have been in my life all along. It is not only my personal favorite track on this album, but one of the best songs I’ve heard so far this year. I could listen to this song all day, it is so beautiful and hopeful.

Jason then takes lead vocal duties on “Roll On My Friend,” his voice conveying a sort of wisdom that comes through experience, and so we trust him, and find comfort in his delivery. Check out these lines: “The gambler does wonder how long he will wait/For the perfect set of shapes and colours in his hand.” I’ve never heard that thought expressed quite that way before, and it is perfect. These guys can certainly write strong and meaningful lyrics. “Right In The Garden” has a gentle vibe, a relaxing feel, with Pharis back on lead vocals, delivering one of the album’s best vocal performances. “And we told each other this was all we need/In the wonderland.” Here they make the normal seem magical, and that takes a certain talent. Don’t we all wish we could do that, to acknowledge the magic in our lives, to live within it, perhaps making our lives seem more special than we previously thought?

“Bet On Love,” the album’s title track, has its own sort of somber beauty, and contains a nod to “If I Had A Hammer (The Hammer Song)” in its opening stanza, with Pharis singing “This hammer is mighty heavy/This hammer is mighty old/Rings in the morning, rings in silence.” There is a touching intimacy in this song, particularly in Pharis’ vocal delivery. “I give a little love to my, love to myself.” Her vocals soon rise to great heights, taking us along for the glorious ride. That’s followed by “New Caledonia,” an instrumental track composed by Jason Romero, featuring guitar and banjo. By the way, this couple’s other job is building banjos, and the banjo used on this track was homemade. If you’re curious, their business is called J. Romero Banjo, and is in Horsefly, British Columbia. In “We All Fall,” Pharis sings “Troubles come and they may go/Waiting for someone to carry me home.” Ah, but we are relying on these musicians to do that for us. “I know I’m not alone,” she sings, and that line has power. It is delivered with strength, but perhaps received with even more.

“Old Chatelaine” has a sweet vibe and features some beautiful harmonies. “I was a sailor on a ship so fine/The captain said this would all be mine/I cast my net in one true throw/Pull my bounty from the depths below.” Then “A Bit Old School” comes on with an energy, having something of a delightfully raw sound, like a live performance. This song also includes some nice harmonies. That is followed by “Kind Girl,” a song with a classic folk vibe, a song that you can learn and sing along to. This one features some good work on guitar. “I say the time is now.” It ends with an interesting section on banjo. The album then concludes with a rather serious-sounding and beautiful song, “World Stops Turning,” with Jason on lead vocals. Check out these lines: “The world stops turning each day around dark/The time when I feel my heaviest heart/Faces and names don’t matter anymore/The world stops turning when you walk out the door.”

CD Track List

1. Hometown Blues
2. New Day
3. Roll On My Friend
4. Right In The Garden
5. Bet On Love
6. New Caledonia
7. We All Fall
8. Old Chatelaine
9. A Bit Old School
10. Kind Girl
11. World Stops Turning

Bet On Love was released on May 15, 2020 on Lula Records.