The term “Americana,” as a music label, is a broad and slippery beast; you might be hard-pressed to find two people who can agree on what actually defines the term. But if you think, as I do, it is music that sums up the story of America by mixing all of its homegrown elements into a concise, cool, and consistent sound – a sonic potted history lesson and a soundtrack to American life – Strike to Ignite is, for me, the very definition of Americana. The irony comes when you realize that Lecia Louise is, in fact, Australian.
But whilst that might seem like an inconvenient truth, especially to the gatekeeper of all things star-spangled, this collection of rock energy and roots finesse and seductive blues and soulful vibes and…well, everything great about that New World beat, is about as good a gathering together of American musical infusion as you could wish for. There is even a song that is a tribute to that most iconic and American of events, ‘Woodstock,’ a roll call of the great and good put to a psychedelic-blues stomp.
‘Take It’ is a gorgeous array of country-rock, wandering between delicacy and drive, acoustic rhythmic bliss and electric precision; ‘Hot Blooded Woman’ is a thumping and bumping, grinding and gritty blues-rock anthem; and ‘Saturday Night’ sits at that point where country cool is subsumed into southern rock.
There is even room for an emotive and spacious folk-finessed ballad with ‘Doesn’t Bring You’ before ‘My Everything’ rounds things off with an, if not truly pop, certainly pop-aware slice of sonic goodness.
I guess the fact that we find an Australian making such a fantastic American-flavored album says a lot about the influence of that country’s music on the world, and perhaps just how small the world actually is culturally and musically today. But we can leave such debates to the journalists and musicologists, because all that matters is that, with Strike to Ignite, Lecia Louise has set a high benchmark for similarly influenced albums to follow, homegrown or otherwise.
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[…] gathering together of American musical infusion as you could wish for.” – Dave Franklinhttps://dancing-about-architecture.com/strike-to-ignite-lecia-louise-reviewed-by-dave-franklin/“After such a long journey to completion, Strike To Ignite sounds like an album about refusing […]