Tedeschi Trucks Band

Since joining forces and combining their two bands in 2010, singer Susan Tedeschi and guitarist Derek Trucks have firmly established the Tedeschi Trucks Band as a major force in the Blues world, not to mention gaining quite a few crossover fans in the process. ‘Future Soul’, released on 20th March is their first studio album since ‘Signs’ in 2019 and it’s been well worth waiting for, although fans have had the benefit of several live collections in the meantime, including their enjoyable take on classic albums ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ and ‘Layla’ (Revisited).

Opening track ‘Crazy Cryin’ opens with a funky riff that serves as the feature motif of the number. Like some of their songs, the absence of a chorus that would lift the song into a deeper level of memorability is compensated by the subtle power of the horn section and the backing singers in an arrangement that oozes class. Memorable melody is provided in bucket loads on the upbeat ‘I Got You’ where Susan Tedeschi’s vocal is the essence of sweetness and the backing singers have their own distinctive counterpoint melody. Truck’s guitar comes in halfway through to carry the song to the end and has a definitive Allmanesque feel, which of course is no bad thing at all. ‘Who Am I’ features a lovely picked guitar melody with the hammered on notes hitting that part of the brain that makes you prick up your ears. Truck’s solo on this is beautiful.

‘Hero’ is more in the usual TTB wheelhouse with a hypnotic backbeat and ‘la la la’ backing vocals. Tedeschi’s vocals explode powerfully on the chorus and the outro section features a bundle of different guitar parts interweaving around each other in a way that few other bands manage to achieve. The title track is based on a fuzzy riff and is heavier than most of the other tracks with power chords driving the rising chorus. ‘Under The Knife’ has a soft Southern groove and features some delightful Blues meets Country slide fills. ‘Be Kind’ starts as a mid- tempo shuffle and adds some New Orleans sass on the chorus, not forgetting the brief super Allman flavoured licks on the resolutions. This track even has a super cheesy seventies sounding keyboard solo. Excellent stuff.

‘Devil Be Gone’ has an infectious keyboard groove and stupendous backing vocals underpinning the strong lead vocal. The solo section on this has two competing guitars, sounding magnificent. My favourite track is ‘Shout Out’ which has an absolute earworm of a slide motif that runs through it, which is hauntingly beautiful. The backing has a wonderfully languid feel, allowing Tedeschi’s vocal lines to soar. The horn arrangements on the chorus set the whole thing off perfectly. It’s an absolutely gorgeous track and if someone only wanted to dip their toe in the water, this should be the track to do it for.

The guitar playing on the album is exceptional as you might expect. Trucks’ slide guitar buzzes in and out of the soundscape always adding something interesting. Tedeschi’s vocals sit on top of the accomplished backing arrangements like the thickest and most delicious of creams on top of a mouth watering pie. There are no weak or filler tracks on the album which, without being a die-hard TTB afficionado, has to be among their very best collections of new songs.

Simon Green