By Henry Lipput
Son Of The Velvet Rat’s new album, the fine, moody, Americana-tinged Dorado, opens with a high, lonesome harmonica. Then, frontman, songwriter, and guitarist Georg Altziebler begins to sing about seasons and endings in the voice (a blend of a very weary Tom Petty by way of Dylan and a bit of Tom Waits for good measure) of a man who's seen a lot of life: "Summer's gone / Without a reason / Maybe not / I just don't know / I tell myself / Fall's just a season / And not just a kind of letting go."
Dorado is the sixth album from Son Of The Velvet Rat (SotVR), a project of Altziebler and his wife Heike Binder (on organ and accordion). After five albums made in their native Austria, and years of inspiration in the California desert, SotVR now make their home in the high desert of Joshua Tree.
The album was produced by Joe Henry, a very talented guy who allows artists to make records that sound like themselves, not how a producer wants them to sound. For Dorado, Henry assembled a crack team of musicians to play with SotVR including Jay Bellerose (drums), Patrick Warren (piano), David Piltch (bass), Adam Levy (guitar), and Victoria Williams (vocals). Henry has also put together horn arrangements that add just the right amount of color to the songs.
The great Victoria Williams, one of my favorite singer-songwriters (check out her Loose album), adds wonderful backing vocals to Dorado's first single “Blood Red Shoes” (I love her lalalas on the track). There's also some early Dire Straits-like guitar and just the right amount of piano. Williams also sings backup on the upbeat "Surfer Joe," which concludes with really cool, swinging horns.
The second track, "Copper Hill," also begins with a lonesome harmonica riff; but there are mournful, New Orleans-sounding horns as well throughout (which isn't surprising; Henry also produced the terrific Elvis Costello / Allen Toussaint collaboration The River In Reverse.)
Accordion, fiddle, and a prominent bass line are featured in the erotic "Shadow Dance." "When our shadows dance on the bedroom wall in a flickering light," sings Altziebler, there's "skin to skin / bone to bone." But it’s not just about the physical: "None of us are free / That's what love must mean."
A strummed acoustic guitar opens the beautiful "Angela." "There's a demonstration on the TV / Riots somewhere down in Italy," and then there's a face in the crowd: "Seems like every riot needs a queen." It's not clear if the song is about someone, perhaps a lost love from the past ("Sweet Angela, I think I saw you on the news today"), or if this question is cleared up with the lines: "Forgive me your name's not really Angela / It just came to me out of the blue / Maybe I just needed something to hold onto / And a title for a song to you." It's a great tune with some lovely piano work from Patrick Warren (whose keyboard stylings I've enjoyed since Michael Penn's 1989 March album). I've listened to "Angela" more than a few times, not just to get the lyrics right, but because I really like it. In fact, it's just made my playlist of favorite songs for the year so far.
Dorado is out now on Fluff & Gravy Records (CDs and vinyl) and Mint 400 Records (digital).
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