Eric Devries - Song and Dance Man

by Zena Grieg

published: 16 / 11 / 2021

Label: Louder Than War
Format: CD

Intimate but melancholic fourth album from Utrecht-based singer-songwriter and musician Eric Devries which proves to be ne of the best Americana albums to come out of the Netherlands in recent years.

Review

One of the most renowned and sought-after musicians on the Netherlands Americana scene, the Utrecht-based singer-songwriter and musician Eric Devries has just released his fourth solo album, ‘Song & Dance Man’, following up on the critically acclaimed ‘Close To Home’. Devries is also known to UK audiences from his performing with Matthews Southern Comfort including at the Great British Folk Festival and Wickham. With producer and instrumentalist Janos Koolen, bassist Lucas Beukers and violinist Joost van Es, Devries created twelve new songs for this Americana album. ‘Song & Dance Man’ is an almost fully acoustic collection, recorded live in Studio Doornenburg in the Netherlands. Intimate and folky, in Bluegrass mode, it covers a range of emotions, featuring songs about people who have had to endure some hard knocks in life, unrequited and lost love, drink and depression. The twelve tracks are easy to listen or dance to, the bittersweet melancholy tunes, underscored by Devries’s excellent finger-picking, providing one of the best Americana albums to come out of the Netherlands in recent years. Highlights include: the opener and first single and video from the album, the jaunty ‘Little White Lies’; the catchy ‘Jericho Walls;’ the plaintive ‘Ballad of a Song & Dance Man’; and the rousing ‘Another Round’ with singer Sophie Janna providing harmony vocals. A collection successfully fusing country, blues with a touch of folk in Devries’s unique fashion, complemented by authentic, thoughtful lyrics, ‘Song & Dance Man’ should bring Devries attention from further afield.

Track Listing:-

1 Little White Lies
2 Jericho Walls
3 Ballad of a Song & Dance Man
4 Soften the Ground
5 Time Is All
6 Matters of Love
7 All I Know How to Do
8 Another Round
9 Don't Let Me Be