One of the leading lights of the fragmented, but often unfairly-dismissed English Alt.Country/ Americana scene, THE REDLANDS PALOMINO COMPANY come across as a class act regardless of geographical concerns. Built around the superior singing and songwriting of husband and wife team Alex and Hannah Elton-Wall, this fine quintet opened their account with the striking ‘By The Time You Hear This…’ a couple of years ago and are continuing in their Gram Parsons/ Jayhawks-bothering ways with their sophomore release, the plaintive ‘Take Me Home.’
Their debut was distinguished by its’ burnished, Burrito-style balladeering, lashings of great, Sneeky Pete-style pedal steel from David Rothon and a brace of tough rockers recalling touchstones such as ‘Exile On Main Street’ and Wilco’s ‘Being There.’ Produced with sympathy and clarity by The Rockingbirds’ Chris Clarke and Graham Coxon’s keyboard player Sean Read, ‘Take Me Home’ may differ little stylistically, but it’s a classier affair altogether shot through with loss, longing, and melancholy and – where required – augmented by Read’s piano and weeping strings.
It’s all sounding pretty damn top-notch from the off, too. Garnished by Read’s stately keyboards, the defiant ‘Wasted On You’ is a great, slow-burning opener with Hannah and Alex trading vocals. It also pulls off the difficult, but impressive trick of sounding rousing and anthemic without being a rocker as such: an achievement that Hannah’s ensuing title track can also claim. The other thing this dark, emotive ballad demonstrates is what a great voice Hannah has and here she recalls the likes of Linda Thompson every bit as much as the usual leading ladies of Alt.Country.
Alex’s craggy and charismatic vocals work as a terrific foil on songs like ‘Coastline’ and ‘Empty Feeling’. The former is a nostalgic affair with rolling drums, chiming Byrds-y guitars and a chorus that shifts up to a dangerous fifth gear while on ‘Empty Feeling’ the chorus aches beautifully while Hannah’s vocals shadow her husband to perfection and guest John Hymas’s accordion is a nice, unexpected touch.
Intriguingly, the band initially seem reluctant to employ Rothon’s pedal steel this time round and we’ve reached the fourth track (‘Please Come Running’) before it makes its’ first appearance. Thanks to this and the song’s driving chorus, this one is one of the selections that most closely resembles the best of the debut album, though there’s also no denying the full-on, steel-drenched rock’n’roll of the charged ‘She Is Yours’ (featuring memorable cameos from Gina Villalobos and her acolyte Ben Pringle) and the overtly roots-y lope of Alex’s self-analytical ‘Friend In The Dark’ where Rothon’s steel and Hymas’s fiddle indulge in a rare old duel.
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Substandard moments are thrillingly conspicuous by their absence, though if pushed your reviewer would probably plump for either ‘Harbour Lights’ or the closing ‘Pick Up, Shut Up’ as his favourite tracks of all. The former is a stark, plaintive and torn, Hannah-penned song of temptation and emotional betrayal framed by keening steel, harmonica and Hymas’s accordion while ‘Pick Up, Shut Up’ is the album’s one full-throttle rave-up with Faces overtones, throat-scouring vocals from Alex and the whole band pitching in with gusto. It’s arguably the heaviest thing they’ve recorded to date and is destined to be a storming finale on their forthcoming UK tour – and anywhere else for that matter.
It’s not quite the end, of course, because that honour goes to the reprise of the title track with its’ elegiac guitars and gliding strings. It’s an unexpected, but beautiful way to say goodbye to a poised and magnificent album that again reminds us just how exciting home-grown roots-rock can be when allied to performers as adept and passionate as this. Miss out on this at your peril.
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