Phantom Limb - Phantom Limb (2010)

Much like the late Gram Parsons’ vision that country, gospel, rock, soul, and R&B should be swirled into what he called “Cosmic American Music,” Phantom Limb’s singer, Yolanda Quartey, doesn’t believe in the segregation of musical genres. Although her band from Bristol, England, prefers rootsy tones and a classic approach to songwriting, its impressive 2010 debut album is hardly retro rehash. The opening song, “Don’t Say a Word,” could hypothetically be a Cat Power cover gussied up in soulful Staples Singers—inspired harmonies and lackadaisical musicianship pulled right from the musky basement of Big Pink (The Band’s home in Woodstock, N.Y.). Associations with Alabama Shakes aren’t unjustified, as both bands blend country and soul, and both bands feature a black female singer fronting an otherwise white male group. But Phantom Limbs’ harmonies are comparatively bigger-sounding, as if recorded in roomy churches. The Limbs also create mellower-paced music that has more in common with My Morning Jacket than Alabama Shakes. This lets listeners really home in on Quartey’s rich timbre, as heard in the lush “Spring Flowers.”