AJ Croix & The Devil’s Right Hand Band has just released “Cumberland Jail”, the fourth album release from this talented artist, which blend southern rock with outlaw and old school country.
AJ Croix is a genre-crossing singer, songwriter, and guitar picker with a love for music that started when he was a young child. He was exposed to a wide variety of music and artists that helped to mold him. After the release of his debut solo album “American Idols” in 2016, Croix played with Austin’s legendary songwriter and guitarist James McMurty and multi-instrumentalist and three-time Grammy winner Larry Campbell.
Now Croix comes out with this is rich and deep 10-tracks album, filled by the felt and honest vocal touch he is capable to performed. With his tunes this talented singer perfectly underlines the meanings of the lyrics. Croix vocals are smooth yet powerful, adding a real extra touch to all the songs of this album.
In addition to the aforementioned Croix, the performances of the other artists deserve a mention, as they participated in the creation of the album. These are Jimmy Somma on electric guitar, Bill LaGreca on bass and Steve Decker on drums, which with Croix form an unbeatable aces poker. More than that, not only did Croix write, produce and sing on every track, but he also played more instruments in the recording.
The title track “Cumberland Jail” tells of reminiscences of the past, childhood memories of Croix, spent in New Jersey Pine Barrens, home of the legendary creature, the Jersey Devil. Musical poster of the entire album, in this song we find all the salient and original elements that characterize the entire album.
Thanks to its evocative ability, Croix is able to vividly represent memories, cloaking everything with a feeling of fascination. Ample sound scenarios, vibrant, to be savored note by note, in which mellifluous harmonies fluctuate.
There is a uniform texture, which nevertheless has a variety of rivulets and nuances, which light up and then disappear naturally.
And all this dynamic richness, which we find in the title track, develops and is further emphasized in the development of the entire album, song by song, track by track.
There is a consistency of style, of sound, of artistic intention, which is simply perfect. With this album Croix shows all its creative artistic depth, also the result of the experience gained in the field.
This is a special album, able to kidnap with its talented stories and vivid images. A series of stories that follow one another, parts of a wider life.
This is the breath of “Cumberland Jail“. Wide and deep.
Air and emotions that we can no longer live without.
One of the most beautiful albums discovered this fall 2019.
