Richmond Fontaine's Willy Vlautin formed this band as a means of bringing his band's backing singer Amy Boone into the spotlight (she also sings with sister Deborah in The Damnations).
The Delines' line-up also includes Sean Oldham (of Richmond Fontaine) & Jenny Conlee from The Decemberists.
Boone's weary, yet impassioned voice is perfect for Vlautin's soulful bitter-sweet ballads.
There are love songs, lullabies and he has her sing about facing up to hard times, rundown shops, late nights and middle age. She inhabits the songs like they were giving voice to her own troubles. "I ain't as tough as I used to be" she sings wistfully on He Told Her The City Was Killing and reflects how "darkness ain't such a hard road" on Calling In.
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The, almost, title track, Colfax Avenue, is the story of a sister looking for her brother who has just come back from war service in Iraq with a bloody head and a troubled state of mind.
The 26 mile Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado is the longest commercial street in the U.S.A and in an interview with The Quietus Vlautin said "The idea of a late-night search on a rough street felt like the whole idea of the record to me"
This may end up being a one off project but it's a worthwhile one all the same.
The Delines on Bandcamp
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