Bex Marshall
Fortuna
Dixiefrog Records
A New Contender For Queen of British Blues
I think I need to tell you how reviewing this album came about. As I’ve said a few times RMHQ is currently being inundated with new music on a daily basis, when this album arrived I went through the motions of registering it, but ‘presumed’ from the cover that it too would be louder and ‘heavier’ than what I was in the mood for.
Jump forward a couple of weeks and while perusing the latest copy of BLUES MATTERS magazine there was an interview with a fascinating young woman called Bex Marshall, who was about to release her third album.
“Oooh!” I thought, “I will have to hunt that down.” An hour and three e-mails later, I discovered (was told!) that I already had it! DOH!
So here we are … two weeks later.
The slow and slinky Preaching To The Choir opens the album in the finest of manners, with Ms. Marshall’s desperately emotional voice coming out on top in a battle with some super smooth guitar playing and a bass/drum combo that are as tight as a 20 year old pair of 501’s.
Strangely, Bex takes us to a late night New Orleans dive bar, the way Dirty Water is constructed; and boy does she get her message about the environmental disaster that awaits us all across in a manner that will make you stop and think.
There’s a complete change of pace and even emotion on Jungle, as it has an incredibly bouncy and, dare I say it, ‘fun’ beat, and it’s easy to imagine Bex prowling the stage like a she-cat as she sings it.
While it’s all too easy to name-drop any ‘female Blues singer’ of the last 50 years as an ‘influence’ or a ‘bit of a soundalike’ but apart from saying, Bex Marshall is a welcome member of the British Blues hierarchy, she’s doing it on her own merits without ever directly or indirectly ‘borrowing’ from her female contempories; if anything the likes of Lay Down n’ Die, Scrapyard Dog and I Can’t Look You In The Eye probably too, owe more to listening to bands like Humble Pie, SAHB and Chicken Shack rather than Janis, Bonnie or Beth.
I love the rasp in Bex’s vocals, especially as even if you don’t know her back story, it’s an emotional voice that carries the experiences of a life well lived; and that sentiment also comes across in her solid and articulate songwriting too; which brings me to my choice of Favourite Song.
As well as being a great singer; and she actually favours ‘singing’ over ‘shouting’ Bex is an accomplished guitarist too, most notably for her slide guitar skills; but on the sizzling instrumental title track Fortuna her electric playing, sizzles, shines and shimmers too.
Yesterday I’d narrowed it down to two songs; and listening today I’m choosing the gut wrenching ballad 5AM over the intriguing Table For One which follows a different take on lost love that piqued my interest the first time I played it and still does today.
It’s fascinating that barely two songs here follow the same musical template; yet the album works perfectly well as the sum total adds up to a 10 in anyone’s books.
Released 1st March 2024
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https://www.bexmarshall.com/
https://rocknhall.bandcamp.com/album/bex-marshall-fortuna
https://dixiefrog.com/en/home/
The Rocking Magpie 