Review: Michelle Malone ‘Southern Comfort’
By Hal Horowitz
Singer/songwriter Michelle Malone has never been shy about either her bluesy Southern roots or affection for the 70s folk/rock Laurel Canyon sound. While those two genres wouldn’t seem to inhabit much common ground, Malone connects the dots with energized creativity on the appropriately titled Southern Comfort, released Oct. 4th.
A professional musician, based out of Atlanta for the majority of the past three decades, Malone fronted Band de Soleil and Drag the River in the early 90s before going solo. She is currently involved with two other outfits, the Christmas-themed Hot Toddies and Canyonland, an outlet for her love of the 70s West Coast vibe. The latter is displayed on Southern Comfort’s cover photo where she proudly sports a Linda Ronstadt tee shirt.
Malone’s robust, soulful vocals and knack for crafting fertile, memorable melodies, lighted salted with tinges of blues and country, dominate these eleven tunes, all penned or co-written by her.
Whether it’s the sturdy Petty-styled strum of the opening title track, the rugged “Barbed Wire Kisses” (featuring Will Kimbrough’s soaring slide solo), the swamp soaked “Like Mother Like Daughter” (perhaps self-referential with the lyrics “Cause she’s hardheaded, lead footed, tough to the bone, rooted deep in her Southern ways”) or the bittersweet ballad “I Choke on My Words” (featuring fellow GA native Randall Bramblett on Wurlitzer), Malone delivers 42 minutes of pure, pretentious-free, organic, rock and pop.
You don’t get much more authentic contemporary Southern rocking than Blackberry Smoke. Frontman Charlie Starr swings by to add legitimacy to three tunes including the easy swinging “One Track Mind.” It’s a perfect example of Malone’s tough but tender touch as she sings about her love for a partner with “Head in the clouds, feet on the ground/When and where you’re not around,” just before Starr checks in with a Keith Richards’-influenced solo effortlessly merging country and blues.
Malone’s fans know there is ample sass in her catalog. This collection’s rollicking, chunky, red clay rocking “Undercover Mother” tells of the feisty titular parent who “When her soldier husband came home, she found he was a drunk/So she said goodbye and took the kids and learned to shoot a gun.” There’s plenty of Bonnie Raitt grit in her voice as you sense this is the portrait of someone Malone knows well.
The easygoing John Mayer-inspired folk soul of “Simple Life” is a stylish combination of laid-back pop linking the California melodic touch with a twinge of Atlanta’s bluesy sway as she extolls joys of the life she likely lives, singing “Give me a bonfire and a bunch of my friends/A cold beer in my hand/A song and a smile make some memories along the way.”
The set closes with the sentimental “Wine and Regret,” at over six minutes the longest entry. It’s an emotional paean about the death of a loved one, sung with relaxed swagger and a stinging closing guitar solo reminiscent of Neil Young’s work.
Co-producer/multi-instrumentalist Paul Warner also gets credit for his work crafting these sessions, balancing Malone’s two musical sides without overemphasizing either.
“Bless Your Heart” is the expression stamped on the packaging that greets the CD purchaser when they remove the disc from its holder. That’s Malone’s way of saying thanks to a robust supporter base that has kept this fiercely independent artist working and releasing albums as strong, resilient and vibrant as Southern Comfort for the past 30 years.
Pre-order the album HERE
“Simple Life”
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