Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
At one time or another we have all been residents of Heartbreak City, indeed some of have not only lived within the city’s limits, taken in the views, strolled in Melancholy Park, eaten in the many restaurants of regret, they have become a spokesperson for the desire to truly explore the surroundings before they can return to the land of the exuberant and the positive nature of performing for the masses.
Larry McCray’s latest studio album, Heartbreak City, is a letter of recommendation, an acknowledgment that we must suffer the blows of life if we are to roar and demand the recognition that we have not only existed, but we have lived a life of resonating, beautiful fury.
Being released on Joe Bonamassa’s own label is a testament to the faith of the sound of the Blues, that calm thunder that speaks directly to the soul, and with huge contributions from the likes of Reese Wynans, Kirk Fletcher, Jade Macrae, Dannielle De Andrea, and of course from the godfather of modern Blues, Joe Bonamassa, the album becomes a blessing of continual cool and the courage of earthy conviction.
It feels natural to have such a combination of expertise truly capturing the air, for alongside the truth behind Robert Cray for example, Larry McCray’s phenomenal sound is one that is an exception to the rule that Blues was floundering as the last century came to its end, and without the likes of Larry the Arkansas born musician, the genre honestly might not have survived to its renaissance rebirth.
Across tracks such as the opener Try To Be A Good Man, Everything Falls On Me, Keep On Loving My Baby, Hangman, and I Know What I’ve Done the greatness of the man, of the musician shows its absolute muscle, it is a set of songs that make survival nothing other than the prelude to persisting, resilient, unruffled tranquility.
Ambition has never been an issue for Larry McCray, but it has taken time on behalf of the listener to understand that we must seek in The Blues does not come from a debate, but from a conversation, a physical embodiment of truth to know that to be human is to have suffered and then create art from its living pulse.
It is this that Larry McCray’s Heartbreak City stands out as art complete, a resounding passion to lift the fire from the heart and embrace the flames as they heat up the soul of all who listen.
Ian D. Hall