My Darling Clementine, the acclaimed husband &
wife duo, to release new album.
The Reconciliation?, out on September 30th 2013 on
Continental Song City.
Following on from their hugely acclaimed debut, How Do You Plead?,
husband and wife duo My Darling Clementine - Michael Weston King
and Lou Dalgleish – will be releasing their new album, The
Reconciliation?, on September 30th on Continental Song City.
Recorded at Yellow Arch in Sheffield and produced by Colin Elliot
(Richard Hawley, Duane Eddy, Kylie) and featuring Richard Hawley’s
band alongside guest appearances from Kinky Friedman and The
Brodsky Quartet, The Reconciliation? underlines My Darling
Clementine’s position at the very summit of the UK’s music scene.
A full UK tour has been announced to promote the album (dates below).
Whereas the unmistakable retro country sound on their debut was
conceived with an implicit brief, The Reconciliation? takes on a wider,
more contemporary feel.
"There was a game plan with the debut to dive deep into late 1960's /
early 70's Nashville folklore and emulate those classic country duets”
explains King. “We studied it and forged our own album in its likeness.
The song writing, the way we recorded, the way we sang, the musicians
we hired to play on the album were all carefully selected with one aim in
mind.”
The debut was produced by Neil Brockbank, famed for his work with
Nick Lowe and featured some of Britain's finest players from the classic
pub rock era (including Geraint Watkins, Martin Belmont, Bobby Irwin.)
The result was sensational, a country record that would hold its own with
the great records of the time with the likes of The Guardian welcoming
“a great album” and country bible CMP hailing it the “greatest UK
country record ever”.
Far from abandoning that ethos and the duo’s unflinching love of old
school classic country, The Reconciliation? offers a nonetheless
different, broader take on the genre. As King notes, “With this new album
it is more about building on what we have done but also making it a little
more contemporary. Still looking back to that musical period but without
replicating. Hence a new studio, a new producer and a new team of
players.
Featuring eleven new songs alongside a very rare Ronnie Self cover
(incidentally given to King by his old friend and songwriter Jeb Loy
Nichols); The Reconciliation? fuses modern, contemporary themes with
a country soul vibe that is both infectious and utterly compelling. In
King and Dalgleish we have two performers who know intrinsically what
makes each other tick. They know which buttons to push and how to get
the best out of each other’s performance, painfully cajoling each other
one minute only to be in each other’s arms the next. But let’s be clear,
this isn’t some kind of 50’s Porter Dolly love-in, My Darling Clementine
are very much aware of the complex, challenging world they reside.
As Dalgeish explains, “(For The Reconciliation?) We wanted to extend
the lyrical side of the songs, deal with more diverse topics other than the
cheatin' hurtin', heartbreak scenarios associated with classic country,
Don't get me wrong, we love all that, and there is plenty of it on this
album, and when done right it is as powerful as Shakespeare. But during
the writing process other topics came through, things that had happened
to Michael and I or people we knew. So there are songs that
deal with domestic abuse (No Matter What Tammy Said), the death of
parents (Ashes Flowers & Dust), life in a traveling circus in Mexico
(King of the Carnival), the life and death of George Jones (The Gospel
According To George) and even the process of conceiving our daughter
(Miracle Mabel).
Utilizing Richard Hawley’s crack band – Shez Sheridan (guitars), Colin
Elliot (bass), Dean Beresford (drums), and John Trier (piano, organ) –
alongside Al Cook (pedal steel), Paul Corry (sax), Pat Walker (violin) and
Mike Cosgrave (accordion), The Reconciliation also features the
legendary Texan songwriter and humorist Kinky Friedman and the
world-renowned UK string group The Brodsky Quartet.
When listening to The Reconciliation? there is no doubting that My
Darling Clementine are of the ‘here and now’. Their hearts may well be
in some rammed to the rafters Honky Tonk in Texas in the 60’s, but, as
contemporary writers and performers, their heads are very much full of
life’s everyday conflicts and complexities.
On the front cover of their debut album our unhappy couple are seen
sitting, coldly next to each other. Were they waiting to go into a wedding
or a divorce court? Either way, there is clear animosity. On The
Reconciliation? cover clearly there is a new sense of affection between
the two. Have they kissed and made up? Will The Reconciliation last?
Who knows? At the end of the day this is country music and that very
rarely serves up a ‘happy ever after.’
My Darling Clementine have toured Europe and N. America extensively
since the release of their debut album which was voted ‘Album Of The
Year’ in numerous publications in UK, Europe and the US. Their debut
single 100.000 Words was played extensively on Radio 2 and they have
had tracks featured on cover mount CDs in Mojo and Word. The album
received widespread acclaim in the music press and from fellow
musicians alike.
"13 all-new duets that carry the sting of authentic country classics. Just wonderful!"
UNCUT **** 4/5
“This is a great album. A finely crafted all original tribute to the classic country
duet”
THE GUARDIAN
“King & Dalgleish brilliantly evoke the feuding spirit of George and Tammy’”
WORD
“King and Dalgleish effortlessly earning their place in the role call of great country
duettists”
UNCUT **** 4/5
"One of the most exquisitely pained American country albums of the year comes
from this British couple"
New York Daily News - Top Ten Album of the week
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the best British country record ever!”
Duncan Warwick, Editor - Country Music People.
"Truly a great record"
Chris Hillman (The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers)
“A baker's dozen of originals that sounds like they came straight out of the June/
Johnny-Emmylou/Gram-Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood catalogs. This is as
authentic as anything out of Nashville or Texas...A batch of superb C&W corkers.”
Americaan Songwriter, USA **** 4/5
"If anything is going to make country music hip again, this is it"
Maverick *****5/5 Editors pick of the month
"Simply exceptional"
No Depression ***** 5/5
“Every song could be mistaken for a classic Nashville standard. You could easily
imagine it topping the country charts in the '50s or ‘60s;” Kai Roberts,
Americana-uk.com ******** 8/10
"King's song revive the lost art of songsmiths like Harlan Howard & Merle
Haggard” Manchester Evening News ****4/5
“You would swear blind this albums cuts are lifted straight from the pages of some
long-lost classic country songbook” BBC on-line music reviews