| CD
Review
| Beth
Hart
| Leave
The Light On
|
 |
|
|
BETH HART
- Leave
The Light On
Koch
Records
|
I first
met Beth Hart in Syracuse, NY backstage at the 1996 Lollapalooza. Her
band then, the Beth Hart Band, completely destroyed the second stage and
she come off like a Janis Joplin vagabond with eye-bopping stage
presence. Hart was touring on the back of her Atlantic debut Immortal.
The record had uncanny innocents to it - filled with poetic melodies and
textured with layered orchestration as well as punchy rock nuisances. So
I was a bit surprised to see her grinding away at the piano in her 1999
video “LA Song” – a mix between Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette.
This year her name was added to the credits on Deep Purple’s
Bananas – I took note and checked out her new release.
With “Leave The Light On”, Hart is back to remind us to pull those
old CDs from the shelf and give ‘em another spin. Writing through
sheer intensity, Hart’s raspy gospel voice wraps around cuts like
“If God Only Knew”, “I’ll Stay With You” and the roots-rocker
“Lifts You Up”. Schooled at the feet of The Rolling Stones, The
Faces and Jopin, Hart crafts catchy barnburners with magnetic appeal.
Check out “Monkey Back”, “Lay Your Hands On Me” and “Sky Full
Of Clover”, you can almost hear Jagger and company backing her up.
An accomplished pianist, Hart uses the ivories as subtle, almost
suppressed building blocks, only dominating when invited in by the other
instruments – including her voice. It all comes together in her lead
single “Leave The Light On” a passionate mixture of scaled back
bass, guitar, drums and piano. Etched in dark, confessional lyric Hart
takes us on a winding passage through some of the more seedy alleys of
her soul. Enter “Bottle Of Jesus” which ducks in the backdoor and
actually outdoes its predecessor with a New Orleans-styled jam. Her rock
is just as convincing in Feeder-like “World Without You” and the
balls-out “Broken And Ugly” – then there is the delicate beauty of
“Lifetime”. Poetry with symmetry.
Website: Beth
Hart, Koch
Records
|
|
|
|