The Twilight Singers
She Loves You

The dear Greg Dulli, frontman of the Afghan Whigs, has never been the type for lying in a hammock with a newspaper in the garden. Just to keep busy, he brought to life the delicate project The Twilight Singers with which he continued to explore those musical areas between rock and soul (not forgetting a touch of electronic) that had already impregnated the beautiful "1965" by the Afghans. Born in 1997, the Twilight Singers released their first work in 2000 titled "Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers". In 2004, they released their second album, preceded by the single "Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair". Boasting a decidedly suggestive cover, this album contains exclusively covers, a rather risky choice given the not always honorable precedents (do we want to talk about "The Spaghetti Incident"?). Dulli's work reflects the love for the originals and the evident effort to try to do something more than the classic tribute to. The lineup ranges from songs by Bjork, Fleetwood Mac, Nina Simone, Mary J. Blige, Gershwin (!), John Coltrane, and His Majesty Marvin Gaye to those of Billie Holiday, Skip James, and Hope Sandoval.

Although some tracks are decidedly more successful than others, one cannot help but notice the almost sexual allure that emerges from an "Hyperballad" transformed on this occasion into a pop-rock piece that, with a delicate electronic backdrop, merges the voices of Dulli and, needless to say, Mark Lanegan, or from a "Real Love" that seems to come directly from the "Gentlemen" sessions rather than from the voice of Mary J. Blige. Coltrane would be proud of the jazzy-rock version featuring a distorted guitar solo of "A Love Supreme", so beautiful that one ends up cursing Dulli for making it last only two minutes without having the time to admire the perfection of the mix with the subsequent "Please Stay (Once You Go Away)" embellished with an emotional rendition that almost brings it close to the pathos of "Debonair". The song that most excites is undoubtedly the composition that pays homage to Nina Simone: her "Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair" is practically a sung version of "Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer". There would be countless words to spend on the solos that almost draw tears with each listen and the peaks reached by Dulli's voice, but the only way to do justice to this masterpiece is to listen to it, perhaps twice in a row, to fully appreciate the overdubs and backing vocals that make each song a small discovery.

Summing up, the rating is undoubtedly 5 for three essential reasons:

- it's Greg;

- cover albums are tricky territory and this one alone is able to reevaluate a good part of them;

- it is undeniably moving and music, beyond its beauty or harmony, must evoke emotion, a role this record fulfills completely.

Fun fact: the concluding "Summertime" features Manuel Agnelli on guitar and seems to have inspired him quite a bit for his "I milanesi ammazzano il sabato" where his friend Greg returns the favor.