Samantha Fish – Belle of the West

CD:
Samantha Fish
Price:
12.96

Reviewed by:
Rating:
5
On 30 November 2017
Last modified:1 December 2017

Summary:

A fantastic album

Hot on the heels of her album “Chills & Fever”, released earlier this year, Samantha Fish has another new album – “Belle of the west”. It’s rare for an artist to release albums just a few months apart, but Samantha Fish has done just that. My initial expectation was more of the same – maybe some left over songs from the “Chills & Fever” writing and recording sessions but no, that’s not what this is. This is a very different album to “Chills & Fever” – so different in fact that if the voice wasn’t clearly the same person you’d assume it was two totally different artists. Clearly Samantha Fish doesn’t want to be tied down to being “just” a traditional blues artist as neither of these two albums are typical albums for a Blues artist.

The new album “Belle of the West” has a hint in the title as to what you can expect musically. It’s more Country or Americana than Blues, but that’s certainly not a criticism – I love this album.
Swapping her electric guitar for an acoustic guitar she’s also showing a softer side to her vocals. The use of a violin helps add that Americana feel to the sound and really enriches things nicely.
It’s got a far more laid back feel to it than “Chills & Fever” but it’s got a bit of punch when it needs it, such as using an electric guitar or the keyboards in places during songs such “Cowtown”. The elctric guitar appears in several songs, either as a guitar solo or just being used subtly to enhance the sound – it’s never overdone.

One of my favourites on the album is one of the darkest songs here – “Blood in the water”, but with not a single weak song on the album you can’t go wrong whichever song you pick to listen to. Blues fans are likely to find “Poor black Mattie” particularly enjoyable.

A great album that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed listening to. If you’re a fan of Americana in particular or just Blues music, this is an album well worth checking out.

Track listing:

1. American dream
2. Blood in the water
3. Need you more
4. Cowtown
5. Daughters
6. Don’t say that you love me
7. Belle of the west
8. Poor black Mattie
9. No angels
10. Nearing home
11. Gone for good

A fantastic album

About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.