Part of the magnificence of having the luck to do this work is having the fortune of discovering something extraordinary. I have had a few such experiences this year, with the most recent coming in the form of a small, modest San Diego quintet.
Featuring some of the most contagious melodies of the year, Delta Spirit’s Ode to Sunshine is one of those albums that deserves multiple spins and conjures visions of pure enchantment. With enough sandy waltzes and beautiful rockers to bring a smile to even the most weather-beaten mug, this is one of the best albums of 2008.
Based out of San Diego, Delta Spirit has an unsophisticated worth that goes beyond most youthful indie upstarts and ventures into the territory of tested performers.
Ode to Sunshine is a spirit-quenching force of folk, soul, Southern rock, and indie greatness. It is everything music should be. With cheering balladry and continuous soulfulness, this debut springs with character and sparkle.
Led by singer Matt Vasquez, Delta Spirit’s plan of attack is one entrenched in history and independent thinking. “Louis Armstrong, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Talking Heads. They’re characters, almost folkloresque, because they did exactly what they wanted to do,” he recently told The Boston Globe. Citing Alan Lomax and Jelly Roll Morton, Vasquez is a musical personality without a trace of insincerity or ingratitude.
Instead, Vasquez’s Delta Spirit is completely engaged in the hope of music-making. Ode to Sunshine swells with that hope, invoking a spiritual experience through its eleven exquisite tracks. The album was recorded in a cabin in the woods in Southern California in one week. It feels clean, tight, and altogether unique.
Ode to Sunshine opens with a quick little ditty, “Tomorrow Goes Away,” that feels like a front porch jam between the best of friends. And as the album courses warmly forward, that’s really what every track sounds like. Free of posturing, incongruity, and unnecessary glitz, this is extraordinary stuff.
Article comments