Kris Delmhorst is a new name to me and, considering that Blood Test is her seventh solo album, that may indicate a lack of application on my part. Never mind, I’m here now.
Anders Parker, who also produced the album, Mark Spencer and Konrad Meissner make up Kris’ band, covering guitars, bass drums, keyboards and, on one track, vibraphone. Although a song may start in accepted singer-songwriter acoustic mode – and not all do – it can be sent stratospheric very easily and naturally – listen to ‘Saw It All’. There is a little of Suzanne Vega in Kris: it may be the New York background but it’s more the blend of delicacy and power in her songs and her performance.
The title track feels like a metaphor for a relationship that has changed, perhaps gone stale, informed also by Kris’ new status as a mother. It’s full of repressed pleading: ‘Tell me are you true’; ‘Are we listening, are we drowning?’ ‘92nd St’ is an ode to New York, really a series of observations set to a pretty tune and a minimal arrangement, which explodes in the middle with some dirty, snarling guitar from Parker. There’s a lot to like in this album.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: www.krisdelmhorst.com
Kris performs the title track, ‘Blood Test’, with Anders Parker:
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