Equality
Americana Vibes, 2023
9/10
The Colorado residents The Sweet Lillies bring their string prowess to these 12 Americana tunes that surround self-exploration, social justice and evolution.
“Spent” opens the listen with Julie Gussaroff’s talking and singing alongside fluid drumming and warm melodies, and “We Are Beautiful” follows with the playful and upbeat instrumentation that benefits much from guitarist Dustin Rohleder’s unpredictable playing.
In the middle, “Clear Water” emits swirling banjo and very expressive singing that makes for some time honored blue grass nods, while “Candles” places Rohleder on vocals for the flowing and intimate song craft that makes great use of Jason Hann’s skilled drumming.
Near to the end, the swift vocal acrobatics of “Words” is populated by lively bass plucking and charming vocal harmonies, and “In My Dreams” exits with mesmerizing interaction between the strings, drums and bright singing of the groove filled finish.
In addition to the above, keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth and violist Becca Bisque both make exceptional contributions to a unique, uplifting and very important body of work from yet another top notch Americana outfit from Colorado, and this one even carries hip-hop influences.
Travels well with: Damn Tall Buildings- Sleeping Dogs; Old Salt Union- Where The Dogs Don’t Bite