Veteran blues troubadour Eric Bibb’s career spans five decades and extends to over forty albums and counting. He remains a force of nature and a source of inspiration.
The title of his latest collection reflects its contemporary edge but is also a reference to the fact that it was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Somerset. It is produced, arranged and mixed by Glen Scott. With 15 beautifully crafted tunes tracks and over 55 minutes of music, this is the sound of a committed artist in a relaxed, expansive mood.
Bibb says “Musically, the album feels like a self-portrait because it truly represents my influences. It really tells me where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m headed.” It’s encouraging to hear an artist in his 70s looking to the future rather than merely dwelling on the past. The opening line of the opening song Take The Stage - encapsulates this optimistic tone: “Looking at a new you, on a new day, walking up a new road, wearing new clothes.”
It all sounds so effortless but the intelligent lyrical content and immaculate arrangements are the fruit of years of experience and fingerpicking skills honed to near perfection.
Bibb’s voice works like a soothing balm with spiritual qualities rooted in the rich tradition of gospel blues. This is applied to uplifting and quietly radical songs about human rights and fights which speak of the importance of keeping hopes and dreams alive in a world of trouble and strife.
In The Best I Can Bibb sings of “Trying to stay true to who I am” and in Make A Change he breathes fresh life into the old adage of ‘being the change you want to see in the world’ rendering this maxim as a urgent plea for honesty and tolerance rather than as a tired platitude.
With the closing track, Victory Voices, a duet with Lily James, the saccharine Disney-like qualities are laid on a bit too thickly but, for the most part, this album is chill out music that doesn’t deaden the brain but truly warms the soul.
