Ashley Campbell - Something Lovely (Album Review)
Ashley Campbell’s back story is pretty well known, but for any newcomers, Ashley is the daughter of country legend Glen Campbell whose impressive musicality would rub off on her as she learned to play the guitar and latterly the banjo, which became her primary instrument - initially for an appearance in a play she was acting in at the time. Ashley is the youngest of Glen’s eight children and would follow, in what became something of a family tradition, and join his touring band as Glen bravely battled Alzheimer’s, and spread awareness about this most devastating of diseases. Ashley released her debut album ‘The Lonely One’ in 2018 which highlighted her sweet vocals, banjo prowess and emotive songwriting supporting the album with regular visits to the UK, including shows at C2C and Black Deer Festival. As with most debut albums, ‘The Lonely One’ struggled a little to stay focused as Ashley dabbled with country-pop and a more traditional sound, but the album flowed well and was an enjoyable listen. Ashley seemed equally adept in both genres - and the good was very good – so I was eager to see which Ashley Campbell would deliver her sophomore release.
‘Good To Let Go’ opens proceedings with sparse instrumentation that builds slowly as the rhythm section hangs back allowing the guitars room to slither and snake around the soundscape. For some odd reason, It reminds me of a laidback CCR (it could just be that “up around the bend” tag line) but it feels like a modern take on a sixties vibe and Ashley is in fine voice, sweet and seductive expanding her range as the beat picks up. It’s a great opener and lyrically a perfect fit for 2020. ‘Forever’s Not That Long’ finds Ashley in full-on traditional country mode and it’s quite lovely. Piano, pedal steel and fiddle are all able to find room to breathe thanks to spacious, clear production. Ashley’s vocal is beautiful and perfectly conveys the nearly spoken-word mid-section during which it feels like she’s picking up the torch carried by the likes of Dolly all these years.
‘If I Wasn’t’ adds extra twang reminiscent of Chris Isaak and Vince Gill turns up with the kind of vocal that country fans have been taking for granted for so many years before the song expands into a percussive tour-de-force which proves to be another highlight. The title track follows and opens sparsely with Ashley accompanied by acoustic guitar before the strings sweep in. The Spanish style guitars are central to the song playing off each other beautifully before the strings return to add an unexpected orchestral coda to proceedings. ‘Remembering’ was Ashley’s first single back in 2015 and she revisits it here. The track remains a poignant autobiographical ode to her late father delivered with sincerity that never drifts into overt sentimentality. The first half of the album concludes with ‘Moustache Man’ a perky instrumental that allows Ashley to show off her banjo chops in keeping with the sole instrumental on her debut.
The second half of the album doesn’t quite keep up the high quality but, that is not to say it doesn’t contain the odd delight and unexpected pleasure. I find myself rather taken with the light swagger of 'Digging Deep' with its multiple vocal harmonies and dustbin lid percussion. ‘Suitcase Heart’ probably overdoes the sweetness slightly in an avalanche of fairy tale instrumentation; ‘Walk On By’ is another success featuring neat percussion, plaintive steel and a nicely judged harmony vocal and ‘Alice’ is a really nice tune but honestly “If I’m Alice you’re my wonderland” is such an unforgivable lyric. The album concludes with a take on ‘Good Vibrations’ which initially filled me full of dread. Luckily my fears were unfounded as Ashley pulls it off rather well. The decision to feature banjo as the main instrument on the mid-section breakdown is unexpectedly a success, the percussion light-touch and fun, the vocals cool. Ashley and her team also go full-on with orchestration that would have left Brian wiggling his toes happily in his sandpit. It’s also worth mentioning that Ashley's dad played on the original sessions in his days as a Beach Boy/hired gun so she’s probably well within her rights to gently mess with a classic.
To sum things up; Ashley sounds fantastic throughout; her easy sweet vocal delivery cleverly marries seductive and sassy and, for the most part, avoids sounding too twee. I've got a feeling there might be more to come from Ashley vocally in the future. The album takes some chances regarding production and instrumentation especially on album opener ‘Good To Let Go’ which enhances the listening experience as Ashley and her band put a lightly modern spin on the traditional when required. The album does tail off a little for me but ‘Moonlight’ - with its plaintive pedal steel and nicely delivered key changes - and ‘Alice’ will probably have strong appeal for country fans. In conclusion, I’m convinced that Ashley Campbell is finding her voice and ‘Something Lovely’ is another step forward for this talented singer and songwriter placing her firmly in the mix with the likes of Kacey Musgraves and Whitney Rose.
‘Something Lovely’ is released by Vacancy Records in the UK, Ireland and Europe on 9 October 2020.
To quote John Surge, “These five songs represent a real cross-section of the music we make”. John is referencing a new EP aptly titled, ‘Maybe You Don’t Know Me’. The ‘Almost Time’ album from last year was well received, but Surge still had a host of material that wasn’t quite right for that record but worked well in his live set. A live set that had gotten John noticed on the LA country scene in the first place. Surge re-connected with highly regarded Texas producer Tommy Detamore {Doug Sahm, Jim Lauderdale, Sunny Sweeney, Jesse Daniel} and reenlisted many of the ‘Almost Time’ crew including his right-hand Haymaker guitarist Randy Volin, plus Brennen Leigh on harmony vocals, Brad Fordham (Dave Alvin/Hayes Carll) on bass, Tom Lewis (Junior Brown/Raul Malo) on drums and Floyd Domino (Asleep at the Wheel, Merle Haggard) on keyboards.