Terry Lee Hale - Bound, Chained, Fettered (2016)

I can just say it right away. I love Terry Lee Hale. The combination of his voice, his guitar, and his songs, send me always and without exception, straight to the place just called Terry Lee Avenue. It is the street where life is always filled with a truly unique atmosphere. It's time to walk along when the hour of thought suddenly tickles, or when I just want to listen to Mr. Hale, his voice and his guitar. His guitar is in many ways an extension of his voice, and I have been addicted to this universe for well over 20 years now, so I can say with my hand that I will continue to be there until one day I'm dying. For one day I'm strolling.

Terry Lee Hale is an artist I never care to just listen to through just one album when I'm in the first place. Nope. As I walk along Terry Lee Avenue, I end up being through at least three of his eminent releases, and often throughout the back catalog. And when I listen to this man, I play the albums all the way through from A to Z.
It tells me a bit about my relationship with the Texan who grew up in Seattle and put his musical impression there before moving to Europe, more specifically Marseille in France. It says in any case that when I first turn into that street, I stay there for quite some time. It is comparable to coming home, while it is as far away from home as it is possible to dream.

I've had TLH's last album in my house this past time, and I've just listened to it and another album I'll also write a few words about this week. The first thing I have to say here I'm in Bound, Chained, Fettered's huge and all-encompassing atmosphere is that I'm bound and linked. Tied and linked to the music. And of course it is the best thing that can happen to a music lover. From the first rounds I was seated to wonder the overall quality of all the songs. I was by no means surprised, just wondering moved. I was seated to gape a little. As much as I've loved this man's previous releases, and then I really love, I find that the man has now reached new heights in his musical empire. One thing is the collaboration with the guitarist, organizer and producer, Antonio Gramentieri, and another is the actual songs - the very content of this album. The man himself - Terry Lee Hale. In contrast to his previous album The Long Draw from 2013, where he was a kind of spectator to life, he is the very character of this time. The songs plow deep into the meat on me here I sit. There are life experiences and truthful little stories sung with a voice that reflects on life so far, where the feeling and experience is constantly floating in its thoughtful atmosphere and where the very beautiful instrumentation only helps to make the very core of each song more credible, and closer ... Closer to the body, in a way. The songs engage and take me a long way into Terry Lee's emotional landscape, where every little thought and all the little reflections become my own. It goes without saying that it's an art, and Terry Lee with his crew manages this throughout this totally stunning album. There is no sound or a breath that does not belong exactly where it is located and the musical image becomes like a piece of art intertwined by the finest threads capable of creating the almost supernatural atmosphere that is simply and becomes addictive . The one song, "Signed Blue Angel", is a poem written by the grandson (an 8 year old girl) to one of Terry Lee's very best friends throughout life and, according to the man, is in many ways the essence of what he wanted with this album . The poem expresses death with simplicity just a child's beauty and wisdom can power.