The blues has its share of personal pits of inner torment. In 1937, for instance, Robert Johnson thrashed inside “Hell Hound on My Trail.” “Never Get Out of These Blues Alive” was John Lee Hooker’s black hole. For Buddy Guy, good money is on “I Smell a Rat.” Otis Rush? Has to be “Double Trouble.”
“Dirt Woman Blues” is the dramatically dark abyss from which Gráinne Duffy tries clawing her way out—distressed line by distressed line, string bend by string bend. Instantly, the grave tone clamps on. Trouble is afoot. The music rocks back and forth, as glimpses of the story get sketched. Each chorus presses and presses, rattling the cage. An electrified guitar writhes right alongside, whipping up until boiling over. Never does Duffy, her lyrics or her band (including husband/fearsome fretsman Paul Sherry) let you off the hook—or out of the song—until the bitter end. Even then, it’s unresolved if the narrator made it out. All you know is that “Dirt Woman Blues” doesn’t stop haunting once the music ends. Compared to the aforementioned pits: different sonic presentation; similar emotionally up-the-creek scenario.
For as consuming as its title track is, 2023’s all-original Dirt Woman Blues—which remains Duffy’s most current work to date—does not always play the heavy. That same wonderfully sinewed voice starts to sweeten and soar as the dread lifts and the melody lightens for “What’s It Going to Be?,” as this and seven other tracks keep spreading the field. It helps that Ireland’s blues/roots rocker is not beholden to stylistic constraints, responding instead to the guidance from her muse. Such has always been the case. Each of the four studio albums since Out of the Dark, her 2007 debut, wipes the slate clean from the prior, offering a fresh, creative round of songwriting. For instance, Dirt Woman Blues toughens and loudens versus 2017’s softer, more soulful Where I Belong.
That said, variety takes the form of “Hold On to You,” a ballad plushly carpeted by organ chords; the breezy acoustic jangle of “Killycrum”; and levitating “Rise Above” on an interlocking riff turned into an entrancing drone. But, soon enough, ‘tougher’ and ‘louder’ retake the room when in roar “Well Well Well” and “Yes, I Am.” The former has more than a hint of steel running down the spine, courtesy of a rowdy slide guitar stirring up folks to shout along with every pass of the refrain. The latter works on a cycle of attack and release, repeatedly flaring up and cooling back down (where flaring up means rocking furiously).
In spite of the deep pool of original material Duffy can pull from, it is not unheard of for a Muddy Waters, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt or Rolling Stones song to slip into the set at her live shows. But be forewarned: If you miss Gráinne at the Stanhope House on Sunday, September 29, she and her Les Paul will have already moved on to wowing audiences in Germany and the Netherlands only days later.
Label: Blue Heart
Release Date: 2023
Artist Website: grainneduffy.com
Reviewed by Dennis Rozanski
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