Michele D'Amour & The Love Dealers - Hot Mess (2022)

Whoever said you can’t have some fun playing the blues? Pacific Northwest group Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers certainly had a good time with their new offering, ‘Hot Mess.’

The eleven new tracks of the group’s seventh album are a high-spirited collection of snappy swing, sizzling funk and rocking blues with rapier wit lyrics from award-winning songwriter D’Amour. Composed and refined during the last two years, topics run the gamut from wild woman, hot rod cars, social issues, hound dogs and the Devil himself.

D’Amour took her crew, comprised of bassist Patrick McDanel, drummer Carl Martin, sax man Noel Barnes and the newest “Love Dealer,” guitarist Richard Newman, into Seattle’s ElectroKitty studios to record with Garrett Reynolds. Keyboardists Tom Worrell and Philip Woo were brought in to add fine piano and organ to three tracks as well. The atmosphere of the sessions was clearly electric as they yielded energetic performances of boisterous material that undoubtably were a cathartic experience for all involved.

The title track, ”Hot Mess,” bursts out like a steam valve on high pressure boiler with a blast of Wah Wah and saxophone as D’Amour chastises a friend who is on the edge. McDanel’s knee deep bass line leads the group into a spooky take on Dr John’s night tripper classic “I Walk On Guilded Splinters,” and its voodoo groove. The album art was inspired by the surf rock love song to a flaming ‘46 Ford “Plum Crazy.”The heavy-duty funk rocker “Devil In The Dark,” speaks to hypocrisy of the demons in saintly garb all around us. D’Amour advises caution for those in the dating scene over Newman’s gritty guitar riff during “If The Shoe Fits,” and Worrell drops in fine barrelhouse piano on the country-tinged tale of the trials and tribulations of adulting in these chaotic times “Muddlin’ Through.”

Newman penned the smooth R&B number, “Helping Hand,” that features fine saxophone, and organ along with a message of hope. Do not mistake the easy-going groove of “It Won’t Break My Heart,” with happiness — this is one tough break-up song. A sleek rhumba lays the underpinning for the mournful tale of the wildfire season in “Cold Red Sun,” painting the picture of a devastated western vista. D’Amour has a little fun with the concept of a sugar daddy in reverse in the salty Chicago-styled “Nurse With A Purse,”and the hilarious double entendre’d ode to the neighborhood pest “Your Dachshund Won’t Leave Me Alone,” is a nod to Marcia Ball that’s set to a spicey New Orleans beat from Martin, greasy slide guitar from Newman, and funky sax from Barnes.

Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers have created a relatable, gritty, soulful, thoughtful set of songs while keeping their sense of humor on this strong new album. ~Rick J Bowen