Alice Tambourine Lover - Down Below
by Dave Goodwin
published: 27 / 8 / 2019

Label:
P & C Goodwin Records
Format: CD
intro
Excellent psychedelic blues on comeback sixth album from Bologna duo, Alice Tambourine Lover
Likened to the wonderful Mazzy Star and Cowboy Junkies, Alice Albertazzi and Gianfranco Romanelli, otherwise known as Alice Tambourine Lover, have released 'Down Below', their sixth album to date on Go Down Records. Alice (voice/ guitar/tambourine) and Gianfranco (dobro resonator guitars), who are based in Bologna, have got on to the heavier psychedelic side of the folk tree while still retaining their original identity. This album is also a little more bluesy too, compared to earlier outings. Wandering between lazy atmospheres and more gritty moments reminiscent of Mark Lanegan, this new album from Alice Tambourine Lover is certainly gripping. Getting together in 2011 as a side-project of psych band Alix, they released their first two albums 'Ground' and 'Good One' that year. Also released on Go Down is the rest of their discography, 'Naked Songs' from 2012, 'Star Rovers' from 2013 and 'Like a Rose' from 2015. They haven't done anything album-wise since then though and so 'Down Below' is seen as a sort of comeback album. The first track is the title track and is typical of their stripped-down sound but is an indicator of what is to come. A little heavier than the last is the next 'Dance Away' which is drenched in Alice's familiar tambourine percussive skills. All tracks are written by the duo except for 'Into the Maze', a guitar-led jaunt with haunting harmonies, and the last track on here 'Surround You' which was also written by Mirta Cimmino. In between is my personal highlight 'Rubber Land', which sports a more fuzzed-out sound and equally strong harmonies but also hides a great bit of harmonica within its bluesed out psychedelic trip. Am excellent sixth effort from Alice Tambourine Lover which should do well with both blues and psychedelic lovers alike.
Track Listing:-
1 Down Below2 Dance Away
3 Blow Away
4 Follow
5 Into the Maze
6 Rubber Land
7 Train
8 Surround You
digital downloads
most viewed articles
current edition
Cornbury Music Festival - Great Tew Park, Oxfordshire, 8/7/2022...10/7/2022 -The Final GoodbyeBathers - (With Cowboy Mouth and Sugartown), Strathaven Hotel, Strathavan, 17/6/2022
Felix Cavaliere - From Pelham, NY to Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
NIck Godfrey - Interview
Prolapse - Peel Sessions 20.08.94 and 08.04.97
Queen and Adam Lambert - O2 Arena, London, 20/6/2022
Dorothy Bird - Jimmy's, Liverpool, 30/6/2022
Andy Ellison - Interview
Dwina Gibb - Interview
Silent Running - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Hurrah! - David Jensen 08.12.82Moon Under Water - Fragments EP
Marine Research - John Peel 18.05.99
Paolo Nutini - Last Night in the Bittersweet
Brooks Williams and Aaron Catlow - Ready for the Times
Burning Hell - Garbage Island
Dave Edwards - Many Rivers
Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler - For All Our Days That Tear The Heart
Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp - 18
Blue Orchids - Angus Tempus Memoir
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart