The Scarlet Love Conspiracy rocks out
Chattanooga Pride was last weekend and, as usual, it was a beautiful event, well-planned and well executed. There aren’t many local events that can rival it for sense of community and affirmation.
It’s always a pleasure to see so many friends there, too, and this year was no exception.
Amidst all the socializing and chit-chat, people kept asking me, “Did you hear Scarlet Love Conspiracy’s set? Man, those guys killed it! Heather’s voice is amazing!”
This isn’t a fabricated point; I lost count of how many times I heard this or some variant of it. For the record, no, I missed most of their set and yes Heather’s voice is amazing. Been saying that for years now.
Here’s why I consider any of that worth mentioning: I don’t think many of my friends know that I write a music column, and I am certain no one who raved to me about the band that day knew that I had a copy of their latest album, Secrets and Ashes, in my pocket. They certainly didn’t know I was planning to write that up this week.
No, people kept telling me about SLC’s performance because they just really loved what they heard and were excited to tell other people about it.
That’s pretty damned special. It’s one thing to sit at your desk week after week writing about why a band is especially good and people ought to know; it’s quite another when people randomly come up to you and do the same.Scarlet Love Conspiracy’s reputation is solid, hard-earned and well-deserved and their latest release further cements their place as one of the top acts in the scene.
The album opens with “Liar Liar,” a tune that tickles my brain in a Rolling Stones kind of way if the Stones had a sultry-voiced singer, dripping with power, instead of old what’s his name.
Heather’s voice would be the showpiece of any band but, similar to what I’ve said recently about Ashley and the X’s, what makes this combo so powerful is that every individual in the band has risen to that level. Here’s why it matters.
A standard model in the industry is to find a showstopper vocalist and build everything about the act around them. The band is there in a support capacity, and you could on a moment’s notice swap them out for an entirely different band without much changing. Love it, hate it, be indifferent, it’s common practice.
On the other hand, the Scarlet Love Conspiracy has no such Diva-centric identity, every player is as integral to the sound as every other which means then that if Heather’s voice is a showpiece, so are Kat’s drums, Eric’s guitar, Travis’s bass and young Katie’s keys and trumpet.
It’s worth saying that because Heather really could be a diva and get away with it, she’s that talented. Instead, SLC is a genuine ensemble and ANY other combination of performers simply wouldn’t be SLC.
“Muddy Water” is the second track, and if Carlos Santana didn’t guest on it, he made need to take lessons from Eric. I say Santana, but I’d really like to watch Eric’s hands as he plays this particular tune, there is something distinctively Mark Knopfler in there too.
It may, and not for the guitar alone, be my favorite track on the whole album. The keys on the chorus lend a certain “oomph” to the tune that I can’t describe, but I’ll say again, I think this is my favorite track.“Well Whiskey” is a mean, gritty, punch in the feelings, lyrically and musically, with hard-edged male vocals and hard-edged guitar.
There are six more tracks on the album, all of them excellent, all of them SLC at their finest, but today we shall come to rest on the tune, “Hill Country Girl.”
Hearkening back to the days of Tammy Wynette and Patsy Cline, this is one of those songs that turn a rowdy roadhouse into a Cathedral, where everything stops when the singer steps to the microphone. No clack of the pool balls, no muted conversations, the song simply dominates the room and macho men are wont to dab at their eyes because, man, it’s dusty in here.
I generally have no shortage of superlatives but I’m not altogether sure how to adequately sing the praises of “Hill Country Girl,” a song that is borderline religious experience for me. SLC is indeed an ensemble, but this tune…as the band plays languidly in the background, the singer stands alone in a spotlight and for four minutes and thirty-one seconds lays bare her soul for all to see.
Tender, vulnerable, hurt, strong, worn, resilient…any heavy metal moron can scream in to a mic and sound pissed off, but the subtlety, complexity, nuance and heartbreaking sincerity of Heather’s performance on this tune is unlike almost anything I’ve heard.
What can I tell you, folks? Would you think the latest album of one of the area’s most popular bands wouldn't be brilliant? It is, but…more so. What this band, as much family as anything, has accomplished is not just another great album; it is transcendent, something very, very special that has to be heard to be believed. It’s called Secrets and Ashes and it’s available now.
Photo: Paul-Erik Bakland