Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Emma Swift, Tiny Ghost Records 2020.
As we celebrate Bob Dylan turning 80 years of age and reflect on the enormous musical (and literary) legacy that he has provided, it is understandable that musicians would respond in song and by releasing tribute albums.
Sometimes the decision to do a tribute is ill-advised but in the case of Emma Swift it is an inspired choice.
Emma is an Australian singer/songwriter, originally from Wagga Wagga, who is currently living in Nashville with British underground cult musician Robyn Rowan Hitchcock, who first made his name in the band Soft Boys but has gone on to forge an impressive solo career and has had a documentary film made about his life and art.
Swift is a gifted singer who possesses a beautifully haunting voice and remarkable feel for Dylan’s often overly wordy lyrics.
Her interpretations are so good that I found myself preferring her versions to the originals.
This is quite a feat when you can impress an old dyed in the wool Dylan fan like me.
Emma is backed by a classy quintet that includes Robyn Hitchcock on guitar and Wilco’s Patrick Sansone on guitar, keyboards, bass, percussion and production.
The album contains eight tracks and her selections are interesting because she has mostly avoided selecting the obvious candidates in favour of some of the master’s lesser-known songs.
The best-known tracks would probably be One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) and Simple Twist of Fate, her treatment of both of them is magnificent but it’s her rendition of one of my favourite Dylan tracks that completely won me over.
I Contain Multitudes, from his Rough And Rowdy Ways album, is a song that will be rarely covered because of its unusual chord progression, intonation, and dense lyrics.
I have listened to this song many times but I feel I only really know it now, after listening to Emma’s interpretation.
I really like her decision to place the epic and wonderful Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands as the central track of the disc; at twelve minutes in length it acts as anchor around which the other tracks orbit.
The cleverly titled Blonde on The Tracks (a wordplay on Dylan’s album Blood on The Tracks) really is an outstanding album that makes Dylan’s work accessible to non-Dylan fans.
Many artists have attempted a similar feat but very few have come anywhere near this album.
It’s up there with the best albums I’ve heard this year.
