Ebony Lamb. Ebony Lamb

As Ebb & Sparrow singer-songwriter Ebony Lamb debuted on this blog in 2018. As far as I'm aware things went quiet until a few months back when two new singles made it to the weekly post on singles. Now there is her eponymous album and it is a beautiful album reaching for the depths of the listeners' soul with the intention to stick around there.

At the very start the album shares its main message, "keep me dreaming", with me. The dreamy 'My Daughter My Sister My Son' brings the listener in the mood to dream away on Ebony Lamb's music. The mellotron like sound takes the already dreamy atmosphere to the max. The mellotron allows the listener to lay her/himself down on the sound and to float away into his inner sanctum to enjoy all that follows.

Every instrument on the opening song sounds as if coming from another room while still sounding completely clear.  It is the mood that prevails, over which Ebony Lamb sings with a totally clear voice. In 'Take My Hands at Night' a guitar enters the sound of drums, bass and electric piano set to its most dreamy. The guitar adds to that state of dreaming with its vibrato and sustain. This song is a superb example of Ebony Lamb. Anyone not falling for this song, can better avoid the album it almost seems. Don't, please try again and again!

Because there certainly is enough variation. The tempo goes up, a little, in 'Salt Sand Sea when Ebony Lamb ties in with her New Zealand colleagues Reb Fountain and Aldous Harding to name two. There certainly is some cross pollination between them. With Fountain in the way of singing and Harding in the moderately tougher approach here and in e.g. 'Midnight Is My Name. The bass is more prominent and can almost be called the lead instrument where all else circles around.

In 'Swim To Me' the tempo goes down once again. The song can't be called a ballad. It doesn't qualify because the pathos associated with ballads in totally lacking. The singer almost hides behind the sparse music as it were. 'Swim To Me' is a song that is as unobtrusive as possible, before becoming something not resembling a song at all. This is compensated by the dreamy 'Drive Me Around'. Does something like a soft rocker exist? If so, 'Drive Me Around' qualifies. With a prominent drums and bass they set the basis for the other instruments and singer to play off from.

This observation is what sums up Ebony Lamb. It is an extremely strong and good album that puts Ebony Lamb right up with Reb Fountain's 'Reb Fountain' and 'Iris' in my book. All three are albums that hover between dream and deed, where reality for a change does not get in the way. Ebony Lamb can be very proud of her first solo album. "Come put a record on", she sings in the same titled song. Let that be my advise to you, so long as for now that album is called Ebony Lamb.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Ebony Lamb here:

https://ebonylamb.bandcamp.com/album/ebony-lamb