Some bands begin with an unfair advantage when it comes to creating great music. The Delines start from such an auspicious high point. Willy Vlautin - the "poet laureate of the dispossessed" - writes with such compassion for those on the edge, struggling to just survive, while Amy Boone shines with her world-weary, yet achingly sympathetic and beautiful vocal.
Vlautin’s lyrics, flesh out the characters and drive a narrative forward almost as if he were writing a screenplay. Indeed, the album taken as a whole is a mini “film festival” with each song acting as a short movie in its own right. The cinematic quality of the record is given further depth by Corey Gray’s two instrumental laments, which punctuate and serve as almost an interlude and closing credits. The band is rounded out by long-time Vlautin associate and drummer supreme Sean Oldham, and Freddy Trujillo, who brings the soul to the country.
The vibe is definitely melancholic, mellow, and melodic.
Willy has always been able to write powerful female characters, be it in his compelling novels or in song. The signified figure of Pauline Hawkins in his mesmerising novel ‘The Free’, or the valiant struggles of Lynette in ‘The Night Always Comes’ come to mind. With the added bonus of Amy Boone’s burnished vocals, there is a real authenticity to the observations, damaged and empathetic.
There is real defiance from the female lead in ‘This Ain’t No Getaway’.
Even if the police are called, I’m gonna leave, not escape, because this ain’t no getaway.
This is a voice of independence – not just a survivor of domestic violence, setting out on her future, undefined by the damage of her past, and weighted down by her abusive partner.
Similarly, the female lead in ‘Kid Codeine’ narrates her struggles as she tries to keep her bar and burnt-out boxer of a partner together. The songs are populated by people on the edges, struggling to endure, and looking for love, acceptance, and mere survival.
When the lights stream down like crystals, and the night is cool enough to bear. When all you can see is you and me and the darkness when the normal people have all cleared. That’s when I feel safe. I feel safe. Let’s disappear past the shadows where only the damaged stay. Let’s disappear past the shadows. We’ll never have to feel like them again.
The sadly missed genius John Prine when discussing songwriting said:
The more the listener can contribute to a song, the better. The more they become part of the song. The listener can fill in the blanks and you just draw the foundation.
Each song, each story is real, earthy, and with a cast of individuals who have a history, a present, and a future that we care about. That’s the real beauty of this superb collection. Willy and the band show you the first reel in a film of diminished people’s lives. It is left for us, the intrigued listeners to suggest an ending – redemption or otherwise. No other band is producing music like this, and they have created their own country-soul noir genre.
‘Sea Drift’ is a hugely entertaining, thought-provoking record.