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With the advent of streaming and AI-created music, music is, as we are constantly reminded, becoming more disposable.
Kudos to the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for banning wholly or primarily AI-generated tracks from its official charts; a move that far more countries should replicate. But that won’t stop people from consuming it, especially when Spotify actually has an AI music trending playlist (Google it; it is genuine).
Millions of people, it would seem, don’t care that the music they are listening to was created by computers devoid of human emotions. Unable to experience love, joy, grief, and heartbreak. Unable to show the resilience to pick themself back up after loss and use those emotions to create art. Thankfully, there are artists like Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast on hand to act as a palate cleanser in the fight against soulless, empty music.
‘Heirloom’ is a fantastic title for the latest album from the outfit hailing from Asheville, North Carolina. Something valuable or emotionally significant, passed down through family members from one generation to the next. Way cooler than a pocket watch, it’s an album that – thanks to the warm, soothing vocals from Caitlin Krisko that wrap the listener up like the coziest of comforters – will find a home with many.
Like most of Krisko’s previous output, ‘Heirloom’ has a fantastic, eclectic feel. Blurring the lines between roots, rock, soul, blues, and Americana, there is much to admire on the 13 featured tracks. The obvious starting point is THAT voice. The voice that saw Rolling Stone declare, “Krisko is arguably one of the best-kept vocal secrets of the Southeast with her band, The Broadcast” – and for once, the hype strapline is entirely justified.
When it comes to new female vocalists, the norm these days is to make comparisons (often lazy comparisons) with Janis Joplin in much the same way that male vocalists get compared to the likes of Robert Plant and Chris Cornell. If anybody needs a comparison for comparison’s sake, maybe start with Carole King, since they both can make it look effortless and stop you in your tracks with the slenderest of touches. The sublime tenderness of ‘One More Day’ is a strong example of this.
‘Keep on Trying’ has some fantastic grooves to it. Kinda funky here and there, with a cock-of-the-walk strut to Aaron Austin’s guitar tones that perfectly complement Krisko’s rich vocals. The hooks are huge, simply huge, and linger on for days. As do the toe-tapping drum beats of ‘Heart of Gold’, which, thanks to the gorgeous percussive strains mid-song that build up to a killer guitar solo, give the track a carefree, dance-like-nobody-is-watching edge. Impossible to stay still listening to this one.
Standouts lurk at every turn; the guitar intro to ‘Everything I Need’ is perfect for the uplifting theme that runs throughout, and there are so many guitar hooks throughout that once the infectious ‘Na-na-na-na’ refrains at the end fade out, the logical thing to do is press the repeat button.
‘Homeless’ forms a knockout one-two with ‘Hole In My Heart’. Depending on which way you look at it, the former could be either a break-up song, a plea for someone not to leave, or just a good old-fashioned love song, while the latter is Stevie Nicks singing ‘Dreams’ as she glares at Lindsey Buckingham. The bass throb from William Seymour on ‘Hole In My Heart’ is thick, primo thick.
The Blues Brother keys-laden strut of ‘Halfway There’ would see most in the front rows of a Gospel church get up out of their chairs, while ‘Can’t Find My Way’ should spark a bidding war between multiple movie studios as it is perfect soundtrack material. Ditto ‘Hello My Dear’, which, should they ever decide to remake Notting Hill, then it would be a great fit.
‘Let It Ride’ is a gorgeous slice of rootsy rock n’ roll, complete with lashings of gnarly guitar courtesy of Aaron Austin. One of the more uptempo moments on the album, it talks about “…lightning in a bottle…” and that’s a perfect metaphor to make when discussing ‘Heirloom’, as that is what Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast have captured with this album: lightning in a bottle.
Review – Dave
Pick up a copy of the self-released ‘Heirloom’ online, or even better, at one of the following shows:
04 SEP – SIOUX FALLS, SD
06 SEP – FLOYD, VA
12 SEP – BRISTOL, TN
30 SEP – LEAMINGTON SPA, UK *SOLD OUT*
01 OCT – BRISTOL, UK
02 OCT – FROME, UK
03 OCT – CORNWALL, UK
04 OCT – LLANDUDNO, WALES
05 OCT – MANCHESTER, UK
06 OCT – COULSDON, UK *SOLD OUT*
07 OCT – WAKEFIELD, UK
08 OCT – GRIMSBY, UK
09 OCT – STOCKTON-ON-TEES, UK *SOLD OUT*
10 OCT – BARNOLDSWICK, UK *SOLD OUT*
10 OCT – YORK, UK *ADDED SHOW*
11 OCT – YORK, UK *SOLD OUT*
22 OCT – FERNANDINA BEACH, FL
23 OCT – SUWANNEE, FL
24 OCT – MACON, GA
12 NOV – ROANOKE, VA ***
13 NOV – RALEIGH, NC ***
14 NOV – ASHEVILLE, NC ***
***with special guests Paul McDonald & The Mourning Doves
Ticket information HERE
All live images: Dave Jamieson
