Grammy Award-nominees Larkin Poe are back with their eagerly awaited new album "Self Made Man"
The Grammy Award-nominated sister duo Larkin Poe are back with the release of their eagerly awaited new album Self Made Man, out this Friday (12 June 2020) on their own record label Tricki-Woo Records.
With its playfully pointed gender twist, ‘She’s A Self Made Man’ both gives the album its title and serves as an anthem for the multi-instrumentalist sister duo, comprised of the Atlanta-bred, Nashville-based Rebecca and Megan Lovell, kicking off the proceedings with a big-riffed assertion of their current intent and amplified artistic power.
“Life is all about balance,” says Rebecca. “Sometimes it’s sweet, sometimes it’s sour. With ‘She’s A Self Made Man,’ I wanted to write a song about the up-and-down ride that Megan and I have been on for the past 10 years of building Larkin Poe. It’s hard to know who you are and it can take time to figure out what your purpose is, but I feel thankful that in recent years, my own feelings have started to click and make sense. Knowing and accepting yourself: that is empowerment.”
Self Made Man – which follows their 2018 chart-topping and Grammy nominated fourth studio album, Venon & Faith, sees Rebecca and Megan pushing their music and message towards unexplored terrain, inspired by their world travels yet still powerfully rooted in the creative heritage of their beloved American South. Self Made Man is an album both its eclectic, energetic sound and its resolutely welcoming mission; a universal lyrical approach fueled by tradition and invention, as well as Larkin Poe’s remarkable ability to touch the hearts and souls of their fellow humans worldwide.
“This is, in a lot of ways, is the first lyrically uplifting record we’ve made,” Megan says. “People can go through terrible things. People can weather immeasurable sorrow and hard times, and yet we can still come out on the other side, pull ourselves together, and thrive. This record reflects some of the joy and positivity that we ourselves feel and appreciate.”
Like its predecessor, Self Made Man is self-produced by Larkin Poe with “our good buddy and engineer” Roger Alan Nichols at his studio, Bell Tone Recording, in Nashville. Working in an industry with too few female producers, the Lovells chose to implement their independent spirit throughout their whole operation, further showcasing their grit, moxie, and determination.
“Taking the creative reins and producing the last three records ourselves has been a formative experience for us, as sisters and as artists; it has been essential in the development of our own artistic voice,” says Rebecca. “It has brought us even closer together as a team and has done wonders in crystallizing and distilling the vision that my sister and I share.”
“Being authentic is very important to us,” Megan continues. “Rebecca and I are heavily involved with every decision that is made. We’re independent artists and it filters into everything that we do.”
Larkin Poe will celebrate SELF MADE MAN with an epic live schedule, with wide-ranging tour dates around the globe spanning headline shows, festival appearances, and much more.
Hailing from Atlanta Georgia, this is fundamentally good old roots rock’n’roll and blues. But
Larkin Poe’s deliver the genre with an intricacy and style all of their own. This is southern rock and roll, but mixed with a wide array of styles they have picked up on their travels round the world including country, pop and metal. It all gels together exceptionally well and is a beautifully crafted album from start to finish. If you like artists like The Record Company, the Delta Bombers, Tab Benoit or even our very own The Outlaw Orchestra, you’re gonna love this too.
But what I really liked about this album is although well constructed and performed perfectly, every song is simple, and I mean that in the simplest way. It flows effortlessly from song to song, and has you tapping your feet, clicking your fingers of clapping along to them all. And thit’s its underlying beauty…. Its just so damn easy to listen to !
The album opens with the title track ‘Self Made Man’ a raucous chant of a track underpinned by pounding drums and a delightful distorted, but muted, guitar riff running through it. It certainly has a metal influence, but with a wonderful Country undertone “Lord, have mercy, I’m a self-made-man”. Its kind of dirty in a good way and sets the tone for the rest of the album.
Next up we have ‘Holy Ghost Fire’ a tale of losing a sense of purpose and hitting the road and watching the stars with an open fire. The heavy guitar continues with a wonderful fuzzy tone. With ‘Keep Diggin’ the pace slows a little as it deals with trash talking “who’s lying to who, they’re talkin’ about us”. A great chorus, with a real pop feel, that you just have to sing along to.
Next up we have ‘Back Down South’ a much more country track featuring Tyler Bryant, before we head into ‘Tears of Blue to Gold’ which continues the country feeling.
The next two tracks are the highlight of the album for me. First up we have ‘God moves on the water’ which is a cover of the great Blind Willie Johnson track and has a great gospel influence to its country styling, with great backing vocals and a great lap steel riff from Megan. This is followed by ‘Every Bird that Flies’ which stands alone and feels so different to the rest of the album. The pace slows down and it has an almost Arabian feel to it, with melting vocals and a lap steel performance that could be used to charm snakes. Majestic.
We shift styles again with ‘Scorpion’ which has a pacier driven melody. It has a more pop feel to it and would make an excellent single to draw in from a wider audience. Once again the lap steel underpins the performance and stands out with a different tonal quality giving it a different edge, which works well for this track and compliments the overall higher tone vocals.
‘Danger Angel’ is a great country tale of the dangers of the danger angels charms, and is followed by a country ballad in ‘Ex-Con’ a tale of the difficulties and the life of an ex-con. The lyrics are thoughtful and moving and delivered (as always) so emotionally “It’s a hard living, broke down on the highway, burned out in an ashtray, empty as a bottle, right down to the bottom”. “I served I my time, but now the time has come to get back in my mamma’s good grace”.
Finally we come to ‘Easy Street’ As the album started full force like a battering ram with metal overtones, we end of a pounding, hand clapping country note. “I’ve been high, I’ve been low, there’s so much I don’t know… times are hard, but they’re real, keep my shoulder to the wheel, ‘til I walk on that easy street”. A joyful, hopefully song about getting through adversity and finding those good times. A great metaphor to end this journey on.
I’d not come across Larkin Poe before agreeing to do this review. I really enjoy American country, rock’n’roll and blues music anyway, and the diversity these genres bring, from the blues influenced The Delta Bombers, to Louisiana Bayou country from the likes of Tab benoit to the Americana/Western musings of Nick13 (from Tiger Army), is amazing. I’ve really enjoyed Self Made Man on many levels, because of the diversity and range of styles Larkin Poe employ. But most importantly, they deliver in bucket loads. Each time I listen to the album I hear something different, just a nuance here or there, something I’d not spotted before.
It’s truly impressive how Larkin Poe achieve this, and as I said at the start, making it sound so simple – Just something to enjoy.
Check out the Larkin Poe website for details of their European 2021 spring tour. For Midlands music lovers, they will be playing the O2 Institute in Birmingham on 5 February 2021.
A fantastic offering from Larkin Poe, well deserving of a 9.5 score from LiveWire Music.
