Album Review: Slings & Arrows by Michelle Malone

By Tom O’Connor

Well-respected Americana singer/guitarist Michelle Malone emerges from the studio with Slings & Arrows, another winning collection of self-produced tracks, due out on her own SBS Records label on March 2nd.

The Atlanta native has turned in a serious “Georgia Record” here, with everything from the music to the art on the cover created by proud natives of The Peach State. Bassist Robbie Handley and drummer Christopher Burrows hold the rhythm section together, keeping things small when required but easily capable of dialing it up big when desired. They leave plenty of room for contributions from guitarist Doug Kees and multi-instrumentalist Michelle Malone herself. In addition to her renowned slide guitar work, we also hear samples of her mandolin and harp playing, and it all impresses.

Opening track “Just Getting Started” is a powerful bit of boogie-woogie with a vibe that’ll make ya move your hips as your backbone slips. She also wastes no time in introducing you to her previously-mentioned slide guitar mastery and powerful vocals. It does everything an opening track should.

The deep Georgia vibe reaches over the border into Little Feat/Louisiana territory on “Love Yourself” in beat, vibe and message. Lowell George would be proud. The impromptu Tour of Southern Sounds continues as “Sugar on My Tongue” touches Muscle Shoals with a tune that is equal parts torch song and a warning to anyone brave enough (or foolish enough?) to cross her path. Malone’s lyrical skill with story-songs is also on full display with “Beast’s Boogie,” a banjo-pickin-, harmonica-blowin’ down-home stomp about a good ol’ boy who isn’t around anymore and why he is still missed.

Smart enough to know that no one can out-Otis Otis Redding, Malone approaches her cover of  “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” with remarkable sonic restraint – the spare arrangement is dominated by fat, heavily vibrato-ed chords that make room not only for her vocals, but for some really stunning & heart-stabbing guest vocals from Shawn Mullins, turning this classic ode to helpless love into a powerful duet.

“The Fox and The Hound” gets Malone back to her bread-and-butter. After a slow-build to a full gallop, the band hammers away while Malone lays down some of the most impressive slide work in the collection – just to remind you that her vocals aren’t the only thing capable of soaring and taking you along for the ride. Folks, there is a reason she has a signature slide named after her.

This album isn’t a non-stop party. While touching on some heavy subjects and themes, it never forgets to back it up with music as powerful as the message. “Civil War,” a brittle song about abuse and about fighting back is immediately followed by “Matador,” another song about betrayal and hurt – and getting beyond it by any means necessary. These two songs set the stage for the slow and bittersweet “The Flame.” This heavy ballad, featuring Malone’s most vulnerable and gut-punchy vocals, is about losing everything but hope, and I think, could be a theme song for anyone looking for the strength to get back up one more damn time.

And what do you do when you get back on your feet? If you’re Michelle Malone you come out swinging, but even though “Boxing Gloves” sounds like a defiant, ass-kickings-are-coming song, the message is more layered than that. Malone tells us that life is a struggle and you can fight the world, but there are a few things that are stronger than anger and better fuel than revenge. This song tells us that even a badass, with plenty of legit reasons to be angry, can believe in love, hope and compassion and that, in fact, might be the way to ultimately go.

This collection feels real because it is real.

You can sample Slings & Arrows here. Please support Rock and Blues Muse by purchasing the album through Amazon below.

For more information on Slings & Arrows and Michelle Malone:

Website: https://www.michellemalone.com/home

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellemalonemusic