Octo_Russ

Diane Birch [Bible Belt] 

Early last year i posted this album on my Blog [15th January 2010], that was the first time i listened to this disc, now here's my second listening experience, and yes i really do let things stew on the back burner for a year, you hear about these people who say 'the disc hasn't been out of my player for weeks', well this disc has been out of my player for months [in fact over a year], that doesn't mean i'm very lukewarm over it, in fact i've been looking forward to playing this again for ages, when you have over 1600 treasurable discs in your collection, you just can't keep any on 'heavy rotation', playing a disc often for me is three times a year!, music works it's way into my heart over decades, and stays there.

Diane Birch is American, born in 1983, now 28 years old, this album was released in 2009, the front cover picture is fantastic [by Melodie McDaniel], showing a close up head shot of Diane Birch, lower face out of focus, but those eyes... with the fringe, i delved into this album because of that shot, plus the name of the album was intriguing, and i got my copy cheap on Ebay for £1, a nice bargain, i was not disappointed.

Well on this second listening, i must admit i was a little less wowed, but still wowed nonetheless, she's so hard to pigeonhole, certainly she's Gospel influenced, some tracks seem a little rough around the corners, but i certainly enjoyed tracks 2, 5, 8 & 10, with 8 & 10 the real highlights, and here's a short synopsis of each,

2 Valentino, lovely percussive intro [Stanton Moore], Birch is so good at Chorus's, with a small Gospel choir, i like the lyrics 'playing piano in that pink hotel, just like you said i would', and right at the end the way she vocalises down to a stop is brilliant [2:43-2:47]. 

5 Rewind, a sad and introspective song, much more gentle than most, the chords stamped out by the piano at the start really makes the song [0:00-0:26], and keep coming back throughout, a song of loss and regret, the lyrics 'oh stupid pride it just can't hide, the holes inside my heart'.

8 Don't Wait Up, probably the most gospel drenched song, with Birch playing organ and wurlitzer too, lovely Gospel choir in the chorus, and it's that chorus where she just takes off [0:46-1:02] with the piano just hammering up in the treble, very infectious, i love the lyrics right at the beginning, 'i said to the river running through my heart, you got a long way to go until the waters part', very religious and appropriate.

10 Ariel, pronounced R-E-EL, is the track that i find the best, she plays piano, she has a real soulful gospel voice, it's an upbeat track, the acoustic guitar [Anna Wayland] at times can slightly sound like a vibraphone [1:48+], and it would have been wonderful to have used one, the chorus is just simply stunning, everything just comes together in perfection, i love the lyric 'ive been crying on the pillow where you lie', she gets more emotional towards the end, and there's a delicious little abrupt piano ending to boot.

Here's Diane Birch singing a live version of 'Ariel' on YouTube.