Sing the Delta
Her first album of new songs in sixteen years, named for the Arkansas Delta.
Iris DeMent, 2012
- Released
- 2 October 2012
- Label
- Flariella
- Producer
- Bo Ramsey, Iris DeMent and Richard Bennett
The title refers to the Arkansas Delta, where her family lives. She said a great deal of what shaped her, in music, Sunday dinners and religion, grew out of that region. On the sixteen-year wait she said she had made peace with not being in charge of when songs come, and in another interview joked that she had painted the living room a lot of different colors.
Bo Ramsey, DeMent and Richard Bennett produced it, and Richard McLaurin recorded and mixed it. Bennett plays bouzouki and guitars, Al Perkins pedal steel and resonator guitar, Reese Wynans B3 organ, and Jen Gunderman accordion. Robin Denselow of the Guardian wrote that it sounded as powerful and timeless as anything she had done, and singled out The Night I Learned How Not to Pray as a stomping, pained story of bereavement and questioned faith. Rolling Stone said the songs of love and doubt wear their homeliness proudly, and the Boston Globe's Stuart Munro called it a work of rare, unvarnished grace and power.
Track listing
- Go On Ahead and Go Home3:46
- Before the Colors Fade5:04
- The Kingdom Has Already Come4:40
- The Night I Learned How Not to Pray4:24
- Sing the Delta6:48
- If That Ain't Love5:09
- Livin' On the Inside3:25
- Makin' My Way Back Home4:20
- Mornin' Glory4:47
- There's a Whole Lotta Heaven3:35
- Mama Was Always Tellin' Her Truth5:21
- Out of the Fire7:50
Personnel
- Iris DeMent vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, producer
- Bo Ramsey electric guitar, producer
- Richard Bennett bouzouki, electric, acoustic and twelve-string guitar, producer
- Al Perkins pedal steel guitar, resonator guitar
- Reese Wynans B3 organ
- Jen Gunderman accordion
- Dave Jacques bass
- Byron House bass on tracks 3 and 11
- Bryan Owings drums, percussion
- Brad Pemberton drums on track 4
- Jim Hoke tenor saxophone
- Steve Herrman trumpet
- Richard McLaurin recording and mixing engineer
More from Iris DeMent
Infamous Angel (1992), My Life (1994), The Way I Should (1996), Lifeline (2004), The Trackless Woods (2015), Workin' on a World (2023)
Sources
- Sing the Delta, Wikipedia
- Iris DeMent: Sing the Delta - review, The Guardian (2012-11-01)
- Sing the Delta (Flariella CD-FER-1005), Discogs
- Sing the Delta (master release), Discogs