Faith Evans Ruch always had soulful tones to her voice a la Patsy Cline, so it only made sense to feed her purely traditional country sound through a blue-eyed soul lens on her newest release. ‘Sugar’, B-side with ‘Thank You’, is now available, and serves as a preview to her next record. The Memphis songstress previously entertained us with her debut full-length album ‘1835 Madison’ back in 2013, following it up with the crowdfunded EP ‘After It’s Said & Done’ exactly a year later. Since then the registered nurse has been busy touring in the US and the UK and recording new material, and this new duo of singles is our first taster of what’s to come.
‘Sugar’ comes in immediately with a trumpet line adding a brassy flavor to proceedings, over a Hallelujah-style electric guitar picking pattern, a bluesy off-beat drum and a warm, vintage atmosphere. As usual Faith’s rich vocals take us back to an earlier time in music, most notably the 1960’s, but here they seem to be deeper, smoother, more mature – even though that throaty grit is still present. The track is a simple, classic love song, full of passion, desperation and desire.
‘Thank You’ is a little slower, but still includes a remarkably similar arrangement and rhythm to its A-side, clearly marking out the two as sister songs. The bluesy electric guitar is still here as is the swaying drum beat, and while the trumpet is not as prominent as it is in ‘Sugar’, it does drop by to flesh out the chorus. Once again Faith’s vocals are deep and soulful, although they venture higher up the scale at times, adding a dry and smokey quality on the loftier notes. In addition to the musical similarities, ‘Thank You’ also feels like a sister song to ‘Sugar’ in the lyrics. The narrative of thanking an ex for breaking her heart comes across like a sequel to the A-side’s full-bodied, desperate love. Faith feels she’s better off now that she’s without her ex, and there’s a fierce triumph in the musical climaxes of ‘Thank You’.
You can check out both the songs below.
Originally posted here.
