Little Diamonds - New Orleans Bound
Young singer/songwriter Luke Leblanc,
performing under the name Little Diamonds, began seriously pursuing music as
his passion between his twelfth and thirteenth birthday. He successfully
committed himself to learning a number of instruments and two formative events
further solidified his future musical path. He attended a Bob Dylan concert in
2008 that awakened the artistic possibilities of a musical career and later won
a Dylan impersonation context that garnered him much attention for his vocal
talents. His songwriting developed at a brisk pace and his debut album 1st
Rail earned praise from numerous quarters for its undeniable quality and the
inspiration fueling its performances. Little Diamonds is an un-ironic
practitioner of a tradition that has an increasingly niche audience with each
passing year, but he approaches his traditional minded material with absolutely
no suggestion that these are museum pieces, modern approximations of dusty
relics from a bygone time. His second full length album New Orleans Bound finds
him discovering much more of an idiosyncratic songwriting voice than ever
before and taking more musical chances. There’s plenty of confidence on the
album’s dozen songs that would even be impressive from a veteran artist.
“I Don’t Know About You” begins New
Orleans Bound in an understated way. Little Diamonds has an approach that
underplays the heavy emotions his songwriting discusses in such a way it
actually underscores how much this is affecting the speaker. The guitar work is
never too intricate for its own good, but every song has melodic substance
coming either from his six string or the fiddle often joining him. He indulges
in band efforts at a couple of points on New Orleans Bound and the first
outing, “12-12-12”, hits a nice folk rock stride without ever sounding
contrived or out of place with the rest of the album. “Too Early Gone” is one
of the album’s sadder cuts and Little Diamonds sings with a conviction that
explores the song’s emotions without ever wallowing in them.
“Lord, Come Down” has hushed intensity
from the outset and Little Diamonds never lets up on it. His vocal strikes a
more serious note than any of the preceding songs and lines up very well with
his equally focused guitar playing. The guitar playing on “Duluth Grandma”
gives the song every bit as much of a marquee feel as the lyrical content. The
words are very good – Little Diamonds’ greatest talent as a lyricist might be
in rendering characters through his songwriting with three-dimensional clarity.
“Old Man Al” isn’t quite as involved musically, but the vocal and lyrical
content are both up to the same level.
The album’s title cut is the second
song incorporating a larger band format. Little Diamonds sounds just as
comfortable as he does in the earlier song and genuinely moved to even greater
heights by this particular track’s mix of musical styles. The mesh of
traditional country with New Orleans jazz proves to be an excellent match and
gives him a platform from which Little Diamonds gives his most convincing vocal
performance yet. It wraps this album up with a strong conclusion that embodies
the assurance he shows throughout the preceding eleven cuts. New Orleans Bound
is a vital and completely modern work that just happens to utilize a number of
time tested forms.
9 out of 10 stars
Scott Wigley
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