The blues slide guitarist ERJA LYYTINEN‘s new live album “Diamonds On The Road – Live 2023” has been released by Tuohi Records this month.
Erja asserts that when performing live, you only have a split second to get it right before it’s too late: “There is no correcting stuff later. It is very raw and exciting to play and sing at the same time. The adrenaline runs through your body, and everything around you affects your performance.”
“For the set list of the live album, we had a mixture of my favourite old songs and then a selection of the songs from my latest studio album, Waiting for The Daylight,” explains Erja. “We also recorded a Jimi Hendrix classic, Crosstown Traffic. I made my own version of it by playing the song using slide! It is so cool to play the song, and, on the recording, it is our first encore.”
The release marks Erja Lyytinen’s fourth live album, and follows on from Songs from the Road, Live in London, and Lockdown Live. The new album is the first concert release from the gifted guitarist to capture the post-Covid live experience.
You Talk Dirty has a dipped-headlight slow-drive-at-night vibe to it with hunched beats and an exceptionally skilled guitar riff. The entire composition is charged with good energy, especially the rhythmic and rope-stitched spindling & multitwisting solo that hyrdas around the core aspect of the piece.
With silky hummingbird phrases, a vibrant undercurrent, and sky-high vocals, Bad Seed is a thunderous stomp. This is a delight for those who enjoy bass notes that brush against grainy stones of rhythm and a guitar that glides across grinding foundations. But the song also has joyous sways and an endearing mellow-sparkly voice. Of course, as this is delivered by Erja, there’s a guitar exposition that sets an aspiring prog tone, and this sits at the centre of gravity of the song.
Acutely introspective, Last Girl has a dominating, confident rhythm that becomes counterrevolutionized by a vortex of nervous ice-sleet guitar glimmers. Recalling (or reorganising, perhaps) River Deep – Mountain High from the beginning (at least) this song delivers a stream of rememberings in a vocal style that reflects typical speech/thought patterns, i.e. in the live form, this number is especially freewheeling and explorational and one of the many high-points of this album. The chorus is more traditional, perhaps, with hooroosh roistering and tangerine-twist guitar, but all-in-all, this is a joy!
A flawless live album that would enhance the record collection of any fan of the blues guitar. Commendable!
Check the live tour dates here: https://erjalyytinen.com/tour
Words: @neilmach 2023 ©
RAW RAMP 