Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There are albums which are just so seamless in their presentation that the listener can only imagine that the premium tailor in the country stitched it together with the finest deluxe invisible silk. Ron Sayer Jr.’s and Charlotte Joyce’s album Hard To Please fits that description so well that the outstanding guitar that Ron Sayer Jr. employs may as well be considered the sharp needle which weaves the notes together and then embroiders the beautiful voice Charlotte Joyce within in its sumptuous tapestry.
The guitar expert with the fine taste in lyric writing and the woman who oozes vocal dominance throughout the album, it really is hard to see where the join is. The attraction, the seminal beauty in which the fusion of funk, blues and country combine is elegant and stylish, plus there is something of a high quality in the way that Ms. Joyce gives the vocals on many of the tracks a blistering and ballsy rendition.
The album utilises the creativity within both artists in detailed and decorative way. It is not just for show though, this is no sprinkling of gold dust or false hearted sequins woven into the fabric of the music, this is permanent, not an elaborate embellishment by the artists. What it is, is honest; the rare appeal of music that makes you want to turn the lights down the low and relish the show for everything that is worth, to listen intently and then know that fit is just right, that the cut is sharp and invisible to the naked eye and most of all to show it off to your friends and listen in marvel at its overall charm.
From every pore of the album, the music is scintillating but in the tracks Cold Shoulder To Cry On, Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, Do You Love Me Like You Love Yourself, Mr Weatherman and Tell Me Something I Don’t Know, every musical muscle is stretched, its torso ripples and bends and yet it stays neat, un-creased and still perfectly sharp.
Hard To Please it is not, It is the suit you long to wear, the gown you desire and the music that is so heavenly. It is an album of sheer satisfaction.
Ian D. Hall