A fistful of belters:
The spirit of Sergio Leone hovers over the seventh release from Canadian Country singer Lindi Ortega, and like that director’s Spaghetti Westerns, Liberty is quirky, spooky and wildly entertaining.
Opening with an Ennio Morricone-style instrumental, the album is awash with Mexican guitar and lyrics about horses, hats and guns. The full throated Mariachi trumpets on Through the Dust Part 2 are a lot of fun, as is the Spanish-language chorus of the offbeat love-song Pablo.
When Ortega’s tongue retreats from her cheek the songs are wonderful on their own terms too: Darkness Be Gone and Forever Blue both mix haunting, downbeat verses with soaring choruses.
Only one track, Lovers in Love, sounds like a traditional country number – and notably it’s the single weak spot on an otherwise captivating album.
This review first appeared in the Belfast Telegraph
James JW Robinson 