★★★★
It’s easy to write off a covers album, but Diesel has proven many times during his career that he has an incredible ability to pull off the impossible and make any song his own.
Americana shows respect for the original versions while cleverly Diesel-fying them.
It takes a brave musician to tackle Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run’, for instance, but Diesel does it well. The arrangement on ‘Ring Of Fire’ is a great example of taking a classic, stripping it back and rebuilding it around one of the world’s most famous melodies.
The reworking of Joni Mitchell’s ‘The Circle Game’ is one of the album’s most special moments. Its beautiful melody remains fully intact, yet fleshed out with rich instrumentation. It shows off Diesel’s delicate vocals together with lush backing voices that further highlight how much this song must mean to him.
The record celebrates Diesel’s diversity, whether playing with darkness (‘Angel From Montgomery’), lightness (‘Scarlet Ribbons’), balladry (‘Fire And Rain’), rockabilly (‘Rave On’) or straight-up jamming (‘Born On The Bayou’).
Americana is a classy tribute to the songs that have shaped the artist Diesel has become, and there is a whole lot of love to go around.
Diesel’sAmericanais available now on Liberation.
