{"id":5393,"date":"2023-04-20T11:42:09","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T11:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/?p=5393"},"modified":"2023-04-20T11:43:30","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T11:43:30","slug":"album-review-goddess-the-seahorse-the-fabulous-red-diesel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/2023\/04\/20\/album-review-goddess-the-seahorse-the-fabulous-red-diesel\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: &#8220;Goddess The Seahorse&#8221; The Fabulous Red Diesel. Words: Sammy Stein."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Goddess-1-1024x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Goddess-1-1024x1024.webp 1024w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Goddess-1-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Goddess-1-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Goddess-1-768x768.webp 768w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Goddess-1-435x435.webp 435w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Goddess-1-60x60.webp 60w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Goddess-1.webp 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Goddess the Seahorse\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/5RuKv88JM5EXyZgqm2m30X?si=j0E2kEbRQ4eXGQ3c8gEkXQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><strong>The Fabulous Red Diesel<\/strong> is not your average jazz ensemble. The ensemble sits somewhere between jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, and sheer mayhem and it suits them. Their unique take on life and music have inspired many, but they follow their own path. A mix of different personalities, the band creates entertaining, self-aware shows and music which delights a wide audience.<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/5RuKv88JM5EXyZgqm2m30X?si=vN09dn3hSiyM_VQQRPRrfQ\"> \u2018Goddess The Sea Horse\u2019<\/a> is their latest release and follows performance art shows including \u2018Sparkly Bird\u2019 and the album \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/6QVUJf9fbGUlknJ7DSDrqQ?si=dUmtJB-aSEC6DEkxvd41jA\">The Queensbury House Sessions<\/a>\u2019. The album follows their modus operandi of creating hard-hitting tracks around emotions and observations of life as we live it. After several years of enjoying a somewhat low-key presence the Fabulous Red Diesel now pack prestigious venues such as the <strong>606 Club<\/strong> in London where the album was released on April 6<sup>th <\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Somewhere Beautiful\u2019 sets the tone for the album with its emotional story of a relationship gone awry and the ensuing blame game. The enveloping arcs of sound carry the listener away on that boat Kat sings of as she heads toward, \u2018somewhere beautiful where I won\u2019t hear your voice anymore.\u2019 Beautiful harmonies and a gorgeously worked trumpet line add tonal layers to this rich number. \u2018Thank You\u2019 is a tongue-in-cheek song for a man who sounds like a rogue. \u2018Thank you for being so unkind, thank you for lying to me time and time again\u2019 and many other foibles are deliciously put to words. The chorus goes something along the lines of \u2018Thank you for being an a-hole, thank you for being such a tool\u2019 and the music fits perfectly for someone who has finally bumped the rogue out of their life. A delicious kazoo solo sets the whole song off brilliantly as Kitty ejects the subject of the song from her life.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The album is a complete immersion in many emotions but all the tracks are touched with the subtle quirky brush that The Fabulous Red Diesel wields so well. The punchy lines of \u201912 Beggars Would Ride\u2019 are delivered over a bouncy romp of a number with a brilliant double solo and some very cool brass harmonies tucked tight around the lyrics.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The songs bring in local myths too. \u2018Boneyard\u2019 is about a piece of land Miss Kitty (and most of the band) believe is haunted. It is a park now, but it was once, so legend has it, a graveyard with the gravestones now removed so the song is about the possibility of hearing strange things and voices that can be heard there \u2013 can\u2019t they? Set to a waltz rhythm that wafts and weaves itself through the music, like a ghost itself, it is an unusual and enchanting number. In contrast \u2018Grooving Around\u2019 is an up-tempo number about a woman of influence and \u2019Symmetry\u2019 is a simply gorgeous track, introduced by a bass riff that continues throughout. Deeply moving, the track is an imaginary conversation between vocalist Miss Kitty and her deceased father. She sings of breaking out of his once-controlling influence and the revelations are sung with emotion and a newly found confidence as she breaks free of the emotional repression his influence once held over her. \u2018I will not be scared, I won\u2019t be denied, I am not invisible, I am not gonna hide. I am not your dirty little secret\u2026I was worth it all along.\u2019 She sings with heart.<\/p>\n<p>The atmosphere lifts as the entire band rides out the carnival atmosphere on \u2018Put that Woman Down\u2019 \u2013 and how! Musical hall harmonies and frivolity override stark warnings about a certain woman of ill repute.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u2018Vessel\u2019 demonstrates the full musical impact the band is capable of as the song evolves, Kitty telling the story of a man and his dreams of this and that \u2013 akin to a flight through life really.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u2018Bonsai Tree\u2019 is about a long-standing friendship and worries about the future \u2013 will the friendship change, will it grow, or become deeper? Who knows? The track features a gorgeous trumpet duet in the second part.<\/p>\n<p>The title track is \u2018Goddess The Sea Horse\u2019 and this is a bluesy, fluid, free-flowing track that suits the band and Miss Kitty\u2019s voice perfectly. The story is about love, life, and religion. Seahorses, apparently are loving, and, and pairs dance together for hours each day so the idea here is perhaps we should base our lives on their example with our goddess being modelled on a Sea Horse. Beautiful changes in tempo and pace are worked into the track and you can almost imagine those sea horses dancing their daily waltz.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Dear Number 5\u2019 is chill, calm, and relaxed. It is about writing to your future self, now placed in the ideal situation, and how you got there from where you are now \u2013 an interesting idea and the music certainly helps with the journey.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Joe Cool\u2019 is a number with Latin rhythms and some very cool, rolling phrasing, and \u2018Stars\u2019 is about how we are all made from the same basic stuff but somehow things are not always shared outright. This time the Latin rhythm is of a slower pace and laid back and there is a clever 5\/8 middle section that takes the listener by surprise and is very cleverly worked.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Summer End\u2019 is about all getting on, sharing, caring, and being in the same vibe as each other \u2013 sunshine features heavily and you can imagine a long evening at the end of a gathering, chilled, laid back, listening to this deeply bluesy track, with gorgeous walking bass, topped by tripping trumpets, tricky percussion, and an amazing voice. Bliss.<\/p>\n<p>There is so much to enjoy in this music. From the down-the-pub rowdiness of \u2018Thank You\u2019 to the lovely warping bass solo on \u2018Groovin\u2019 Around\u2019 or the beautiful piano solo on \u2018Symmetry\u2019, the stellar supporting bass lines in \u2018Vessel\u2019 and \u2018Summer End\u2019 (which includes a great solo), the outstanding percussion on \u2018Joe Cool\u2019 or the blaring trumpet solo on \u2018Goddess The Sea Horse\u2019. There is a lot of musical enchantment on the album, all topped by Miss Kitty with her precise, clear, well-toned vocals. She delivers lyrics that make your heart sing as well as those which tell a darker story and infuses emotion into the music. The Fabulous Red Diesel is gaining more attention and about time too. This music is easy to have on in the background, but it won\u2019t stay there. You cannot help but be drawn to the talent on show here, the vocals, the solos, and the all-around good feelings this band create. This is a great album and long may FRD continue to develop music that is as quirky as it is beautiful. We need this.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Fabulous Red Diesel is not your average jazz ensemble. The ensemble sits somewhere between jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, and sheer mayhem and it suits them. Their unique take on life and music have inspired many, but they follow their own path. A mix of different personalities, the band creates entertaining, self-aware shows and &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,118,129,139,132,30,227],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-band","category-bass","category-drums","category-jazz","category-lyricist","category-music","category-sammy-stein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5393"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5396,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions\/5396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}