For my first exposé, I want to go back a few weeks and talk about a group that was spotted around 3rd and Lindsey on Sunday, October 7th. Delta Rae, an eclectic North Carolina based outfit, includes a spunky brunette female vocalist, three musical viking siblings, and two hipsters. To get an idea of what they sound like, imagine that the Civil Wars joined forces with Fleetwood Mac and decided to re-write the lyrics to church songs. Or just take a listen:
Delta Rae's live act is noticeably bare; after opening act The Wild Feather's three guitar onslaught, their piano and acoustic guitar driven instrumentation seemed to air out the room. This is all just as well though, because the main focus here is on letting the vocals shine. And shine they do, rather, the melodies soar straight through the rafters and up to some celestial Valhalla from whence the three Hölljes siblings undoubtedly came. Equally important are the multi-part harmonies that support these, and the harmonic structures range from ethereal, chorale-like layerings on songs such as "Holding on to Good" and "Country House," to soulful gospel stylings on "Morning Comes" and "Fire," to wonderfully simple poppy oh's and ooo's on "If I Loved You." These multiple part (I think I counted a maximum of five-parts at one time) harmonies spin an intricate vocal web that serves to fill in the space left by the sparse instrumentation. Every tonal thread, moreover, seems to have a definite purpose in the architecture of the song, and this gives Delta Rae an air of musical maturity beyond their years. A common earmark of bands that are still working on getting their sea-legs is the tendency to fill in space with different instruments playing the same or similar idea, but Delta Rae manages to avoid this pitfall with a smart and efficient economy of sounds.
The band practically blasted through the first couple of songs, opening with the cinematic "Holding on to Good." The hauntingly epic hook of this number was a perfect departing point for the show, which in fact felt like more of a journey than a show. Much of the lyrical excitement in Delta Rae's writing is based on vivid imagery and storytelling dipped in bits of mythology, and Delta Rae managed to convey the epic scope of these songs without any sort of intricate lighting or effects. These cinematic numbers really formed the backbone of the show, but were broken up nicely by some poppier sing-along tunes including a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."
One of these poppier songs, "If I Loved You," is actually my favorite on Delta Rae's debut album "Carry the Fire." The aforementioned spunky brunette female lead Elizabeth Hopkins' performance on this is absolutely show-stopping; she puts so much into this song that I could have easily guessed that she wrote it even if this had not been mentioned in the show. "If I Loved You" seems to me to be the obvious choice for a radio single off the album, and it's beyond me why the band seems to be touting "Bottom of the River" as their breakthrough hit. Undoubtedly the low point of the album, this attempt at a slave spiritual is about as good as you would expect from a group who looks like they were mothered by a tribe of polar bears (I apologize for stealing a Jim Gaffigan joke). It really just sounds like a cheap rip off of the Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow," only not nearly as good, and I couldn't figure out why the on stage cheap-trick of banging a chain against a trashcan to keep time seemed to excite so many folks.
Aside from the one misstep, however, these guys absolutely nailed it. You can check them out here on their website or check them out on Spotify, or you could save yourself the trouble and just pick up their album now. If you couldn't tell, I love these guys, and give them a solid 8/10 rating.
Rating: 8/10
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