Review: Dean Owens – The Ridge Trilogy EPs
Dean Owens – The Ridge Trilogy EPs
Format: CD – Digital / Label: Continental Record Services
Release: 2024
Text: Bert van Kessel
The Scottish troubadour’s collaboration with Calexico gave birth to the phenomenal desert noir album ‘Sinner’s Shrine‘ in 2022 and its companion piece ‘El Tiradito.’ February 2025 will see the release of its eagerly-awaited successor ‘Spirit Ridge.’ Now, as then, this relesse is preceded by three EPs with songs that haven’t made it to the actual album and alternative recordings of some that have. These EPs have now been collected in a beautiful digi-pack with thirteen tracks in all. Judging by the quality of these tracks Dean Owens has definitely succeeded in achieving the impossible, which is equalling his performances as a great singer and excellent songwriter on ‘Sinner’s Shrine.’
Each EP contains one album track plus 3 or 4 album-related tracks, extra tracks that didn’t make it to the actual album or alternative versions of ones that did.
For the recording of this album Dean Owens travelled to Italy, home of spaghetti western music maestro Ennio Morricone who must have followed the proceedings from heaven with an approving smile. There he teamed up with producer/ multi-instrumentalist Don Antonio, who brought his band, The Stone Buffalo Band, plus Italy’s top studio musicians to help Dean cut the record. They prove to make a great match. The subtle instrumentation fits Dean’s beautiful and melancholic voice perfectly throughout the three discs. Even Calexico’s John Convertino is there to add some nuanced drums and vibraphone.
EP#1 is called ‘Ghost Walking’ and contains 4 tracks. It kicks off with an emotional ode to his Beloved Hills. His melancholy vocals are supported by plaintive strings and a lonesome trumpet to great effect. Tame The Lion is equally melancholic, but more subdued. Don Antonio contributes some thrilling electric guitar. It is followed by the instrumental Sergio’s Kitchen, which finds Dean in pensive mood. It features some fine whistling on Dean’s part. Cd1 closes with the vintage Dean Owens’ Sinner of Sinners. Its sadness lingers on long after the last notes have faded.
EP#2 is called ‘Ridgeline‘. It also contains 4 tracks, which follow a similar pattern. Track 1 (Light This World) is the rockingest of them all with frantic guitars. It is richly orchestrated and finds Dean in a merrier mood. John Convertino’s elegant drumming pushes the enthusiastic horns to great heights. Track 2 finds Dean in contemplative mood out On the Ridge, with very visual lyrics which makes it easy to imagine the fascinating Italian landscape. The slow and emotional Come With Me presents Dean at his most plaintive in a very convincing way. The beautiful closing track The Buzzard & The Crow takes us into Italy’s beautiful nature again
EP#3 is called ‘Sacri Cuori’ (Sacred Heart) and its five amazing tracks make it the most impressive one of this threesome. Right from the start of opener Spirit Of Us the desolate atmosphere is just right, created with restrained instrumentation, and Dean Owens’ vocals piercing our hearts. It’s an astonishingly convincing cry of love. This gripping atmosphere flows seamlessly into the equally moving True Of You, in which Christopher Stout excels on heart-breaking violin. Spirits are raised briefly in the upbeat danceable instrumental El Minuto before the record’s masterpieces arrive; two demos bring us Dean at his most spiritual. In the gospel-like The Gloaming the whistling interacts beautifully with Kirstin Adamson’s backing vocals. A similar situation arises in the stunning closing track A Divine Tragedy, with a stirring combination of harmonica, piano and background vocals.
Because of these three intriguing appetizers I can’t wait to find out what the actual album will have come to sound like in the end.
Tracks:
01. My Beloved Hills
02. Tame The Lion
03. Sergio’s Kitchen
04. Sinner Of Sinners
05. Light Of This World
06. On The Ridge
07. Come With Me
08. The Buzzard and the Crow
09. Spirit Of Us
10. True Of You
11. El Minuto
12. The Gloaming
13. A Divine Tragedy
Website: https://www.deanowens.com/