You, Me, Everybody – Midnight (13th Floor Album Review)
Just as disdain for developments in the U.S. reaches a new peak here, so does interest the ‘Americana’ as a music genre. Venues at this month’s Auckland Folk Festival, for instance, were packed out for bands like Butter Wouldn’t Melt and members of You, Me, Everybody joined them on stage.
So now we have Midnight the latest offering from You, Me, Everybody, an ensemble of bluegrass musicians whose rapid trajectory places them as prime practitioners of Aotearoan Americana. Their journey as band has been relatively brief. Anyone at the memorable 2019 Felice Brothers concert at the Tuning Fork might well have been as enamoured as I was by the hitherto unknown opening act’s debut appearance.
Aspects of the band are striking. First, there’s a generational stretch from the relative youth of founding brothers Laurence ( vocals, guitar) and Sam (vocals, fiddle and mandolin) Frangos-Rhodes (whose deep dive into the world of stringed instruments includes Laurence’s handcrafting of the instruments he plays) to the longer CVs of others they have joined forces with: top acoustic players Nat Torkington (five-string banjo, The Pipi Pickers), Rob Henderson (double bass, The Shake ‘Em On Downers), and Kim Bonnington (vocals and rhythm guitar, well-known in the Wellington folk scene).
Second, in fidelity to their expansive band name, there are no egos here. The democratisation of contribution is evident both in recordings and live performance. All members shine
There’s a backstory to Midnight. After two self-produced albums the band wanted to bring in a producer to push their skills and boundaries. They sought funding from the friends and fans they call their ‘everybodies’ through a Kickstarter campaign. Rewards included a guitar hand crafted by Laurence and they reached two thirds of their target in the first day. Such is their support and following.
The pedigree of this album is strong. It’s produced by Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and Womad Aotearoa guest Rachel Baiman. What starts as bluegrass ultimately carries hints of jazz, country and blues. The net result: a blend that speaks to an Americana derived from but not dwelling in the America of its roots. The result is a fresh take on old styles.
Opener and early single Misdirection bursts out of the gate with banjo-driven gusto. The mountain has never felt so high/ the weight on my mind is tearing me apart. String plucked joyousness that carries the angst of a fraught relationship and reaches a precise ending. Like the love of the lyric interest perhaps? It establishes the album’s tone.
Title track, Midnight, is up next and penned by the group at large, featuring the engaging voice of Kim Bonnington. Midnight by nature takes me and holds me like a newborn baby / Take me back to the beginning to the memory of our new life’s story. The giddy joyousness of that time between dusk and dawn conveyed in waves of strings and honeyed voice. Glorious.
Heart of Stone slows the pace down with the Frangos-Rhodes brothers’ voices offering a yearning wistfulness matched by the reflective pace of plucked mandolin. …close my eyes and feel the pain/ tomorrow I’ll be born again.
Sliver Spoon is as close to a Tennessee tale as anything on the album narrating the quest for mercy for a baby left in an outhouse. Implied scandal. No one will tell my story/ I’ll raise my baby in the heart. A tragic tale with plot line conveyed by words as well as plaintive fiddle. Hints of Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch.
Busy Without Me speaks to the desire to keep a low profile and continues the exquisite blend of vocals and the busy chatter of banjo.
The power and nuance of Kim Bonnington’s voice is showcased in The Rest of Us All. Marvellous lyrics!: hands on deck as we waited for the rising tide/ you the lighthouse to stand up and be our guide.
Nat Torkingtons Raurimu Spiral localises the tone and showcases his banjo in the album’s second instrumental, its rhythm emulating a locomotive navigating that famed achievement of kiwi engineering. Next, She’s Alright With Me is Rob Henderson’s composition, his rich bass-plucks crafting the contours of a gentle love song.
Power in Our Voices is as close to an anthem as bluegrass allows then The Ballad of Bubs and Beautiful has Bonington singing with the purity of an Emmylou.
Last track Lazy Gospel closes the collection in a reflective tone. Bring your whisky bring your wine. Long languid strokes of the fiddle bow. A vocal reminiscent of Hayden Donnell of the late Great North…
The album’s last line Take me where I’m meant to be is apt. These five musicians express a joy of playing together that is palpable as they take the listener into tradition but wisely avoid dwelling too firmly there. They reach through and across genres to achieve a progressive and broadly appealing string-based sound.
You, Me, Everybody describe this album as songs about that familiar feeling of being somewhere between who we’ve been and who we’re becoming. One thing is certain after having these tracks on heavy rotation: this band will surely become more deeply embedded in the fabric of Aotearoa’s soundscape, if not the international Americana / bluegrass scene.
Robin Kearns
Midnight is due to be released on Frida, Jan. 30.
