Album Review: Delta Spirit’s History from Below

While listening to Delta Spirit’s new album, History From Below, my first impressions where these verbatim, “Well this is no Ode to Sunshine.” But you know what, I really like this album. I was in love with their debut album. Seriously, I listened to it for about a month straight. Just like their previous effort, Delta Spirit opens the album with two very strong track, the latter of which is just plain danceable. “Salt in the Wound” is a slower song with a nice acoustic and vocal lead throughout. But “White Table” is just perfect; the way the guitar and vocals harmonize really makes the track standout. The persistent drum beat induces toe tapping until the song turns heavier around the halfway point. Everything then goes quiet save the drums but all kicks back in for a final crescendo.

The album tends to quiet down a bit after that; the next two songs are slower songs that are still worth the listen. When I first heard “Vivian,” I thought I was listening to a previous release. The use of harmonica gives the track a nice bluesy feel that I’m glad they decided to keep on this record. The eight-minute outro, “Ballad of Vitality,” is a terrific closer. The last two minutes are just ambient, but good, noise. Everyone seems to try to end albums dramatically and sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t. In this case, the former is true. The band is currently touring the U.S. I was lucky enough to catch the July 2 show in Philly.