Former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford teaming up with a now defunct band from Bristol to make an album of introspective Americana initially seems like a strange musical marriage. The result, however, is one of the most beautiful records of the year.
The album’s cover photo speaks volumes about its contents, as an extreme close up of Ford's worn face stares uncomfortably back at us. The life experiences etched into his features are expressed through every note of this record, as he works through the consequences of having lived the classic rock ‘n' roll dream turned nightmare.
After arriving on the scene with firecracker trio Burning Tree, Ford joined the Black Crowes and released three albums that many still consider their finest work. Unfortunately, drug problems intervened and he parted ways with the band in 1997, before returning for a short spell between 2005 and 2006.
In the intervening years he's released three solo albums, produced a number of artists and been part of many collaborative projects. He's also become deeply religious, dedicated to his family and the integrity of his music. All of which has fed the confessional content of these cathartic songs.
Although soul searching albums can be a difficult listen, Ford describes 'Holy Ghost' as being “hopeful, in a dark way sometimes”. He's not wrong, as songs like Blues Sky, with its vintage pop chorus and sparkling instrumentation, Dream #26, all infectiously laid back gospel, and Sometimes, complete with devil-may-care groove, mine redemption and positivity from the darkest turmoil.
Particularly relevant is the boogie emancipation of I'm Free. With a bouncing riff, scorching slide work and passages that move from pounding rhythms to Beach Boys cooing, its spirited abandon discards past shackles to find liberation in self empowerment.
'Holy Ghost' is such a windswept slice of dusky Americana that you expect it to have been made in a solitary studio in Monument Valley with a posse of cowboys acting as Ford's backing band. So it's a shock to discover such a vintage sound was made in Wales and Bristol with English country-blues act Phantom Limb fleshing out Ford’s musical skeleton, having had their second album produced by the man himself a few years back.
It's a masterful decision as they weave together an enchanting tapestry of lap steel picking, banjos, piano, mellotron, strings and divine harmonies beneath Ford's weary, subdued Tom Petty-style vocals. The touchstones for this release mostly date back to Ford's youth, with the Band, Neil Young and Bob Dylan key influences on the lilting sunset country of Just A Girl and Turquoise Blue, a song whose lyric implores you to grab the moment before it's too late.
It's not exactly a date record, but delicate love songs feature nonetheless. In You is low key, but intensely moving with some breathless harmonies, while Call Me Faithful – with its gorgeously cinematic piano outro swelling to a transcendent climax – is the most sincere musical apology and statement of commitment you're likely to hear.
Fans of Ford’s guitar playing are in for a treat as he is enchantingly lyrical and understated here. Just listen to breathtaking Dancing Shoes, as the vocal carries a breezy hummed melody while his stunning, expressive slide virtually sings beneath it.
The greatest thing about this record is that it's thematically and musically cohesive, with a wonderful flow. In an age when people rush to download individual tracks it's refreshing to hear an artist who values the concept of the album as a complete journey, sculpting a classic record from start to finish that fittingly recalls the way they used to make them.
Marc Ford Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue April 22 2014 - LONDON Jazz Cafe
Thu May 22 2014 - PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms
Fri May 23 2014 - COVENTRY Tin Music And Arts
Sat May 24 2014 - BIRMINGHAM Temple
Sun May 25 2014 - BRISTOL Fleece
Tue May 27 2014 - SHEFFIELD Corporation
Wed May 28 2014 - MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
Thu May 29 2014 - EDINBURGH Voodoo Rooms
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