CD REVIEW: BETH HART – Bang Bang Boom Boom

Shane | 20 March 2014 | Reply

CD REVIEW: BETH HART – Bang Bang Boom Boom
Mascot Records
14 March 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7/10

Beth Hart’s latest platter is a sultry witch’s brew of ingredients from blues and jazz, to soul and pop, with a little rock n’ roll to season the stew, but at it’s heart is always her ultra powerful voice.

A dizzying mixture of Billie Holiday, Chris Cornell and Adele, that voice is a living, breathing thing, able to send shivers through the spine.

Kevin Shirley – more frequently seen producing Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin or Rush – twiddles the knobs, capturing Hart and her band live in the studio, with all the energy and electricity that one expects from a live performance.

Hart tackles themes of spirituality and belief, of trying hard to accept happiness into her life, as well as more traditional blues/jazz themes of heartbreaks and wasted lives. Caught Out In the Rain is a belter of a slow burning blues performance, where With You Everyday is more loungey jazz, a la Etta James.

Old foil Joe Bonamassa lends his six string talents to There In Your Heart, keeping his contributions subtle but extremely effective, and never overshadowing Hart’s emotion-drenched, quivering evocations of love, before they both kick into overdrive for another belting vocal performance, and a similarly emotive solo from the guitarist.

The Ugliest House On The Block sees Hart veer into Taylor Swift territory with ambivalent results, before the album closes with a live cut of Hart with Jeff Beck, performing Etta James’ classic I’d Rather Go Blind at the 2012 kennedy Centre Honours tribute show for Buddy Guy. It’s stunning, alternatingly subtle understatement with alarmingly forthright vocal power, much like most of this record.

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