I think B.B. Cole is delivering the best of both worlds for my taste.
Her new album Of Love and Loss makes it clear she’s intent on crafting durable songs. This isn’t meant to be disposable fare. The twelve-song collection wrestles with a wide gamut of adult themes, emotions, and situations with inventive flair and a musically sympathetic imagination.
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Cole avoids pretentiousness. Including illustrations for each album cut risks heavy-handedness, but Ariane Dudych’s artwork is specific, never ornamental. It helps further flesh out each song’s thematic purview. The earthy, pull-no-punches subject matter of the song collection keeps things honest. Moreover, the songwriting arrangements and musical performances clearly aim to provide an alternatingly entertaining and thoughtful listening experience.
Echoes of Dolly Parton and, especially, Loretta Lynn are rife throughout Cole’s first release Outgrowing Ourselves, and her affinity for singer/songwriter-country material strengthens Of Love and Loss’ songs. However, the songs are staking out new territory beyond anything Parton or Lynn would ever offer. The absorption of those early country influences into her personal ambitions is nearly complete with these new songs and produces musical art uniquely hers alone.
Many of the album’s dozen songs are character-driven. Cole has abundant storytelling talents, without question, but her chief strength as a lyricist lies in her gift for delineating character with a few choice broad strokes. Of Love and Loss’ opener “(The Tale of) Lady Primrose” shows this well. Alt-country singer/songwriter and Austria-based American transplant Marc Miner teams with Cole in this evocative and dramatic opener that re-establishes her roots music bonafides for any remaining doubters.
“Poor Beatrice” provides a sharp contrast. Leading off with the flinty rock-tinged musicality of “(The Tale of) Primrose” and transitioning into the bluegrass-flavored amble of this track introduces newcomers to two key elements of Cole’s musical identity. Her growing confidence as a vocalist doesn’t seem to have an end. Outgrowing Ourselves showed impressive veteran sensibilities for a debuting performer, and she continues expanding on that promise. “Poor Beatrice” is convincing, in no small part, thanks to Cole’s irresistible confidence.
Traditional bluegrass instrumentation threads through the arrangement for “The Lion and the Virgin”, and its low-watt musical attack is a welcome contrast with Of Love and Loss’ opening bluster. It is an unquestionable highlight. Her stylistic dexterity is another strength. Few moments demonstrate that better than the nearly 180-degree turn she makes from the rustic strains of “The Lion and the Virgin” into the smoky blues of “The Sun Song”. She has enormously suggestive power as a singer and a keen sense of when to use it. Her vocal atmospherics are an important part of this song’s appeal.
Strings and acoustic guitar fuel another chameleon-like transformation. “A Stolen Heart” has tremendous mainstream potential thanks to several factors. It is nearly impossible to not feel enchanted by its beguiling vocal melody, and the arranging has a satisfying unity that involves listeners from the outset. The album’s eleventh track “Hide and Seek” is one of the album’s peak moments thanks to Cole’s careful, yet always lively, development. She inhabits each syllable, and the vocal arrangement, as a whole, elevates already fine lyrics. B.B. Cole’s Of Love and Loss is a resounding success in every way.
Cleopatra Patel