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Written
by Bradley Johnson, posted by blog admin
The
fifth album from South Carolina based five piece Cranford Hollow is the natural
next step in the development of a band that’s steadily progressed from a four
piece traditional county/blues minded outfit into something much grander and
all-encompassing. The band’s bedrock remains the same – vocalist and primary
songwriter John Cranford has a voice ideally suited for his hard-bitten
narratives and reflections and promotes a sound with abiding connections to
various forms of Americana music. The addition of lead guitarist Yannie
Reynecke brought a wild card to the band’s deck that they make just the right
use of it. Cranford Hollow are never the sort of band who goes in for empty
instrumental touches in some misguided attempt to prove their musical prowess;
instead, they reign in their obvious talents so that they might better serve
the song. Color/Sound/Renew/Revive is the band’s greatest album yet.
They
serve notice early on that their vision is much wider than novices might
suspect. “Songfield” has strong construction, but it’s played with such
inspired looseness that it isn’t difficult to hear it as the uniquely stylized
piece they intend for it to be heard as. John Cranford’s vocal growl doesn’t
lack of musicality and has such an authoritative command of the songwriting
that listeners will welcome early on. Violinist Eric Reid takes on a more
prominent role during the second track “Long Shadows” and his dueling
counterpoint with the band’s other stringed instruments provides audiences with
a lot of entertainment. Cranford Hollow doesn’t necessarily turn over new
ground lyrically, but Cranford shows a commitment song in, song out, to imposing
his own unique personality on otherwise commonplace subjects. “Bury It Down”
picks up an acoustic thread and rides it for the duration. The jangling
presence of the guitars strikes a sharp contrast with Cranford’s phlegm-choked
growl, but backing singers sweeten the vocal presentation and the jocular beat
makes for another memorable contrast thanks to relatively dire subject matter
of the song.
The
eight song effort continues on an upward trajectory with the song “And Your,
Brutis”. It surprisingly begins with some near prog keyboards before shifting
into a mid-tempo rock jaunt. Reynecke’s lead guitar takes center stage early on
and unleashes a variety of eloquent, concisely phrased guitar passages.
Cranford’s voice has clearer intonation here than the earlier performances and
the songwriting crescendos at all the right times. This is one of the album’s
best overall tracks and deserves an equally impassioned stage reading. “Dark
Turns” is an instrumental coming late on the release but packed full of the
same power listeners would find in any Cranford Hollow song with vocals. The
drumming is particularly solid, but Reynecke and Cranford’s second guitar prove
to be an effective pairing here. The last song “Swing” has an ample amount of
that thanks to top notch drumming and the guitars come together in a nicely
evocative fashion. Cranford Hollow continues gaining momentum with each new
release and this may prove to be the pivotal moment distancing them from their
peers.
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