Misty Blues - Outside the Lines (2023)

Contemporary Blues That Rocks and Rolls and Rolls and Tumbles In a Subtly Nuanced Way.

OOOOHHEEE!!!
Even though I only discovered Misty Blue last year via their 11th album …. I couldn’t have been more excited when I received a Twitter DM asking id I’d be interested in listening to her/their new album!
You’re old enough and wise enough to follow the link at the end to read about the band on their website; so I won’t bore you with any history.
I wish I had a pound for every review I’ve written where I start with “the Blues comes in many different shades and this one ….. ” but it is true; while you instantly know when you are hearing a Blues song, the road between Robert Johnson and Led Zeppelin is many miles long with hundreds of side roads.
Misty Blue takes the Soulful exit; but when opening track Where Your Blues Comes From nearly blew my theory out of the water; as I don’t think I’ve heard a Soulful Blues song sound anywhere near as Heavy! It certainly wouldn’t be out of place on a Rock Radio station; but does its job by capturing your attention …. by the throat btw.
What I wanted; actually follows with the hauntingly sultry I Don’t Sleep; a duet which features someone called Petri Byrd and some sinful sax playing that made my eyes bulge and my ears tingle too.
To all intents and purposes this album could be described as Blues Rock; but that brings up all of the wrong connotations; but Granville T, Every Which Way and Grip Your Soul are definitely Bluesy songs that Rock in a subtly nuanced way.
But, when it suits her Gina Coleman can drop down an octave or two and put S.O.U.L into her broken-hearted love songs in a way very few others can achieve these days; listen to Days of Voodoo and Laughter or the rolling and tumbling Judgement Day, with its full on Presbyterian organ fills to hear exactly what I mean.
So; do I go for one of the Rockers or the more toned down and heartfelt ballads for a Favourite Song? It appears the sword of Damocles is falling on the latter, as today the final two songs are ‘speaking to me’ in a way I’ve not experienced for while; The Hate (featuring Justin Johnson) sounds almost Noir in the arrangement and would suit the soundtrack to a dark Fritz Lang or Billy Wilder remake, while on the actual finale, on the other hand, Been a Long Time Coming with Eric Gales alongside her, Gina takes on the role of an ‘every woman’ on a song that can be interpreted in a thousand different ways; and she virtually purrs her way through the stunning 4 or so minutes; so I’m going for that as my Favourite; but it’s a close thing; and on another day I know I will be drawn to something else.
While it features on every song; I’ve forgot to mention Gina’s exquisite playing of a cigar-box guitar throughout.