Review: 'Mississippi Blend' by Ghalia

By Tom O’Connor

Belgium-born blues powerhouse Ghalia will be releasing Mississippi Blend through Ruf Records on September 20^th. This eleven-song album, a worthy follow-up to her attention-getting 2017 break-out release Let The Demons Out, will surely put an even brighter spotlight on this young artist’s development as a songwriter in addition to her obvious vocal and guitar talents.

If you’re going to take on the challenge of “blending” all the music that sweeps down the length of the Mississippi, from country to blues to rock and even a little punk rock, you’re going to need some serious back-up, and Ghalia is smart enough to enlist some of the most talented & respected players around for this mighty effort. Cody Dickinson and Cedric Burnside seamlessly split drumming duties and Lightnin’ Malcolm adds some incredibly heavy guitar tracks on this album. Throw in some duets and harmonica from Watermelon Slim and you’ve definitely stacked the musical deck in your favor.

Album-open “Gypsy Lady” presents listeners with all the elements they should expect to hear throughout the album: toe-tappin’ rhythm, an insistent central riff and some sly & knowing lyrics delivered in the key of “sultry & dangerous.” The beat gets slower and swampier on “Meet You Down the Road,” which matches the heavier tone of this one’s tragedy-tinged lyrics and moaning harmonica break. Reminding listeners that she is also about having a good time, Ghalia and the band then roll out “Squeeze,” a fun and feisty tune and continues the tradition of naughty lyrics masquerading as something much more innocent.

There is plenty of intensity still left in the bottle though. A buzzy and fierce central riff opens and anchors “First Time I Died” holding down the tune and giving Ghalia room for an especially emotive vocal line, punctuated by some tasty guitar licks filling in the gaps. The equally driving “Lucky Number” gets additional power by some snaking and impressive harmonica work throughout, finally setting up album stand-out track “Wade in the Water.” This duet with the peerless Watermelon Slim cuts about as close to the blues bone as anyone is going to get in 2019. Whether born in Belgium or Birmingham, you’re not going to hear anything more authentic this year.

The lyric-driven “Drag Me Down” is a front-runner for anyone looking for an anthem to believing in themselves and never giving up the fight. This upbeat two-stepper is then taken to another level by a spot-on harmonica break. The band stays in top gear while lightening the mood in the good-timin’ “Shake & Repeat” with the guitar sounding as dirty as the innuendo on this one. Slowing the tempo, like the band does on “Release Me,” once again gives Ghalia the space for an especially impressive vocal workout to compliment some more harmonica magic.

In a bit of social commentary and satire that would make Jonathan Swift jealous, in “Why Don’t You Sell Your Children,” Ghalia addresses the rapidly falling standards of honor and integrity in a world powered almost exclusively by short-sighted greed. This is some furious societal criticism with a furious instrumental section in the middle to match.

Ghalia and the band go out on a high-powered and big-fun note with the goofy grooves of “I Thought I told You Not To Tell Them,” a wild and wooly blues-rockin’ workout with some of the tightest playing on the album.

You’ll be playing this album much more than just once.

Watch “Meet You Down The Road” Video