CD REVIEW: ‘SCARECROW’- LACY J. DALTON – BY ROQUE LAZARUS FOR COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS INTERNATIONAL

CD REVIEW: ‘SCARECROW’- LACY J. DALTON – BY ROQUE LAZARUS FOR COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS INTERNATIONAL

ARTIST: LACY J.DALTON

ALBUM – ‘SCARECROW’

01. It takes an earth-quake sometimes 05.09

02. Scarecrow 5:42

03. Can’t tell your heart who to beat 4:24

04. Life’s about now 3:56

01. It takes an earth-quake sometimes- This 6/8 ballad Sometimes
it takes an earthquake to shake loose the thing you feel-says Lacy. Like any old
ballad in 6/8 in a country chord progression,  Where the chorus goes in typical epic-ballad
fashion rising and falling like the land-mass wobbling with the playing
undercurrent in the bog. A couple would hardly resist when their feet would
glide them across the vast dancefloor of a continent to traipse around as an earthquake
will shake their foundation and unravel the bedrock! Smart lyric with a crescendo
turn-around in the talking toms rising up and falling when you pray to be shown
the away to go home. Tidal-waves, landslides, Metaphors and figure of speech
form the lyric of these beautifully crafted tunes of Lacy. Minimal use of
harmony in voices but just enough to make you feel niceee…sometimes!

02. Scarecrow- This brings to mind the movie titled ‘scarecrow’
of a field-straw and rag scarecrow that walks from its high-post lookout to
seek vengeance on those around it. This medium-paced country ballad with
Dobro-sounding slide guitars and nicely filled in phrases. The voice here is
outstanding. ‘Friends say there is life beyond you’…these manner of
lyric-writing is hard to come by and definitely refreshes our minds and
spirits…I’d say Lacy was the answer to boosting our immune-system. Blackbird
settled in a dead ol’ tree.

The bass and the guitars so nicely settled in the mix around the
voice never distracting…a technological feat to marvel at. An emotional fade
in the cry of a feeble-seeming attempt ends this song with the chorus
hook-line. An instant favorite and what about you!

03. Can’t tell your heart who to beat- Vibrato guitars open up
this exciting ballad with tom-toms drumming away a Figure and a country-rock in
light-hearted manned with fat-snare in the chorus. You can’t beat an acoustic
real kit. The yodeling is signature to her style. Lacy pulls at the listeners
heart strings. The overdriven slide-guitar solo takes the song to the simple
but minor-tinged bridge in harmonic-minor and a surprising relative-major. And
the saturation of the guitar strings soloing again. I’ll find somebody else to
take his place. The texture of her voice is deep and commanding. Funny how you lose
track of how many verses have gone past unlike the mundane Four-chord fare
dished out to intelligent folk by the music-killers I the industry of deceit! 

04. Life’s about now- Chorused acoustic guitars IN OCTAVES open
up the song in A MEMORABLE INTRO. Here comes Lacy in her Contralto. Anyway
we’re hep says she and you’ve gotta strike when the iron is hot. Life’s about
now takes you on a path of progressive patterns in rhythm and now you see a tambourine
fitting a hand and the small breaks here and there give a ever-fresh feel to
the track as Lacy croons in a heady-head voice. The bridge too works on the
same dotted-minim tutti riff. The backing choir makes listening a breathtaking
experience and as the tambourine doubles up in stereo almost confusing for
those tiny-shell bells you find on the beach. YOU find you have lived this
moment in peace because you know Life’s about NOW!

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I am listening to these
tracks on Sony MDR-XB450 cans and also on Sennheiser HD202 Cans; both closed
backs. Both different in their delivery. I am very happy with the mix and
mastering. This gets easy when the artists have done a good recording take at
source I can understand this!

I recommend Do buy this great EP of 4 songs with eternal appeal
and gift a copy to your near and dear ones and also one for yourself! To play
on a nostalgic evening under starry-nights.