ROCK N' ROLL VIEW falls in love with Erica Sunshine Lee, who's "A far cry from the "sell out"corporate puppet show bands of today!
Erica Sunshine Lee – The South Will Rise Again
Band: Erica Sunshine Lee releases The South Will Rise Again
Primary URL: http://www.ericasunshinelee.com/
In the spirit of musical justice (as I find is severely lacking these days), I gave this latest CD from Erica Sunshine Lee a good and proper listen and not only did I not hate it, but I actually kind of fell in love with it, and subsequently Lee in the process. Appropriately this gal is based out of Georgia. First the music therein is a bit more Modern-Country than Past-Rock so it’s not as tacky as I was expecting. It’s really a good combination of both sounds. I can hear influences ranging from Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Dixie Chicks, Sara Evens and Jo Dee Messina. Most of the music is straight up Americana Country Rock but much of it contains impressive into, outros, long musical segments and much in the way of musical angulations which I love. The lyrics aren’t as annoying or sickly as I thought they would be. Vocals by Lee flutter around like a butterfly but at times. She commands a powerful tonal registry all the while maintaining impressive finesse and control. Erica Sunshine Lee melds and blends all of the above together in a starkly unique way. The end result? A new sound with an old classic feel. Reading from the words of past reviewers this is the clear consensus. How shall I sum up the sound of Erica Sunshine Lee for you? How about ground breaking? Citing her bio I think this sums it up well: Edgy, controversial titles, catchy and infectious melodies and hooks, genuine country music, with a variety of styles, subjects from love, heartache, tragedy, rebuilding of towns, hearts and southern pride integrated with unfiltered, raw southern sass. While actually sounding like she’s not so over produced like some of the more modern sounding artists out there like Sugar land and Lady Antebellum. Lee delivers a sound that is old yet surprisingly fresh all at the same time. There are legions of fans waiting for her. Many of these retro tracks sounding surprisingly innovative, which makes up for their somewhat dated influences. From track 1-3 the album turns decidedly upwards and serves up 13 tracks in all. All songs will get your blood pumping. My favorite songs are the ones that add fuel to the fire “Girls Night Out”, “Holler if You’re Blue Collar”, “Chunky Dunk” “How Bout Them Dawgs”. The first three tracks (Girls Night Out), (Georgia For This) and (Everyone Loves a Country Girl) hit hard. My favorite track is probably a toss up between “Holler if You’re Blue Collar” and “Drinking for Two”. All songs are like vivid bursts of energy. The Musicianship from all involved is World Class and the productions strokes are Professional grade. In conclusion there are 3 things I really like about this latest release from Lee. For one I didn’t want to shoot with my pen my myself like I do with most new country bands and artists from Georgia, Two: this CD may be the most impressionable, cheerful, magical and artistic CD’s I’ve heard this year. Third: Lee and her production team has the courage to write and play music the way she want to, the way it was meant to. A far cry from the “sell out” corporate puppet show bands the masses are scratching their heads at. Whereas 90% of the bands could care less about this approach as they just want to make labels happy. This is one of the most important attributes for me when reviewing music. This CD by Erica Sunshine Lee has no weaknesses and is if you think about it – is 100% compatible with the title “The South Will Rise Again”
FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/EricaSunshineLeeMusic
Wade Richardson, edited by Joshua Beach. Approved by Drew Blackwell (UK).
Review comments: joshuabeach9@gmail.com