Mercury Rev
Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweetie Revisited

Honestly, I had lost faith in Mercury Rev after their latest records: I wasn’t convinced by the awkward electronic attempts of "Snowflake/Midnight" (2008), nor by the soft-prog-pomp-rock drift of "The Light On You" (2015), after which I decided to not bother with them anymore due to too much, really too much boredom. Moreover, their discography has always been impacted by the crucial transition from a "cult" band (until the departure of their crazy ex-vocalist David Baker, who seems to have disappeared into thin air) to a more "institutionalized" alt-rock group. This transition opened the door to mainstream success in the '90s, cutting off the psycho-noise elements in favor of more radio-friendly classic songwriting, much like what happened in other domains to much more famous people like Fleetwood Mac or Genesis, but as with the artists mentioned, ended up slowly but irreparably draining their creative vein.

This new chapter in their discography (released several months ago but only listened to this summer due to my sloth-like skepticism) piqued my interest. Unexpectedly, the duo Jonathan Donahue/Grasshopper, here accompanied by Jesse Chandler from Midlake, essentially refrains from publishing original compositions in favor of a complete reinterpretation of a little-known LP released in 1968 by Mississippi folk singer Bobbie Gentry, who was famous at the time for the hit "Ode To Billie Joe," which came out as a single the previous year and reached number 1 on the Billboard USA charts (included here as a bonus track). Incredibly, Gentry even competed in Sanremo 1968 with the song "La Siepe" paired with our Al Bano! As they say, the Lord works in mysterious ways...

It's worth noting that we’re not talking about a masterpiece that would’ve changed the course of music; indeed, "The Delta Sweetie" was virtually ignored upon its release, and Bobbie, instead of becoming the new Joan Baez, sadly retired from public life. Listening to the originals with today's savvy ear, one must admit that beyond a very personal folk-blues intimate strain (the lyrics inevitably reflect the climate of protest in the late '60s), the sounds have not aged very well. However, the Rev has always been great admirers and wanted to return the work to the ears of today's generations by completely revamping it, assigning the singing to a series of female vocalists from various musical backgrounds.

Thus parade old folk glories (the ethereal octogenarian folk-singer Vashti Bunyan, Lucinda Williams in the bonus track), unexpected returns of known muses (Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star interpreting "Big Boss Man" with her usual indolence, Laetitia Sadier formerly of Stereolab tackling a "Morning Glory" very much in Nico-style, Rachel Goswell from Slowdive crooning a "Reunion" arranged almost as if by a Valium-influenced Bo Diddley), new alt-rock cometars (Margo Price with the dark blues "Sermon," Phoebe Bridgers with the soft "Jesse Lisabeth"). In my opinion, the peaks of the album are to be found in the delta-stomp of "Tobacco Road" where the voice of the northern Susanne Sundfor splits between dark blues echoes and bright orchestral openings, and the killer opener "Okolona River Bottom Band" with a smooth Norah Jones ready to pull you in with trills as dark as the Great River while touches of piano mark a ballad of rare beauty. Besides, the arrangements of all the tracks are meticulously crafted, as this respectful musical homage aims to be an important and "classic" work. Among the shortcomings of the operation, in my opinion, stands out a certain prolixity, especially in the last four tracks of the album. If everything had reached the level of the two mentioned above, it probably would have touched on masterpiece. In any case, this is for sure, we can overall consider "Delta Sweetie Revisited" the best Mercury Rev album in the last five years, at least for the writer.