Wille and the Bandits – Salt Roots
Wille and the Bandits, the rootsy but musically multi-faceted combo led by singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist William "Wille" Edwards, have always had something to say, even in the most isolated of times.
Previous studio album When The World Stood Still is a perfectly titled case in point.
Written & recorded through the Covid lockdowns, it mixed roots-blues, funk and groove-rock with some decidedly Zeppelin-esque and Stonesy moments.
Nor did it miss and hit the back of the studio wall with its lyrical observations, many of which were aimed four-square at the political shambles of the time.
Latest album Salt Roots (another title that cleverly word plays to a bigger issue) is even more impressive.
A seriously weighty offering, Salt Roots sees Wille Edwards (lead vocals, dobro, lap steel, electric & acoustic guitars) and bassist/ backing vocalist these last six years Harry Mackaill joined by renowned keys man Stevie Watts (Hammond, clavinet, piano) and drummer & percussionist Joe Harris, who also adds backing vocals.
(Noted session drummer Zach O’Loughlin has since joined the band for live shows).
It's also worth noting the contributions from producer & musician Josiah Manning, who co-wrote and co-produced the album with Wille Edwards, and features on additional guitars, as well as backing vocals (as do Alex Hart and Phoebe Jane).
Impacting opener 'Wheal Jane' takes a dark, blues-rock dive down the shafts that led to Cornwall’s historic tin mine.
Heavy in more ways than one, the tense groove that drives 'Wheal Jane' is a musical cry to the resilience of the miners who worked all hours for Cornwall’s once thriving industry and the dangers therein.
The album then shifts, with equally powerful impetus, from the industrial to the environmental via 'Trouble Round The Bend,' which points the finger at those responsible for the ever rising (vindictive pun fully intended) problem of sewage being dumped into our seas.
Driven by a huge, dirty riff that goes toe to sewage covered toe with the issue ("can you smell something, it’s that shit they’re pumpin’… just leave our ocean’s alone!" sings Wille Edwards with seriously angered conviction) 'Trouble Round The Bend,' backed by a powerful beat, Hammond depth, and a lyrically considered breakdown part, isn’t just one of Wille and the Bandit’s most powerful songs to date, it’s one of the most powerful songs you’ll hear this year – or see, via the accompanying video.
Previous studio album When The World Stood Still is a perfectly titled case in point.
Written & recorded through the Covid lockdowns, it mixed roots-blues, funk and groove-rock with some decidedly Zeppelin-esque and Stonesy moments.
Nor did it miss and hit the back of the studio wall with its lyrical observations, many of which were aimed four-square at the political shambles of the time.
Latest album Salt Roots (another title that cleverly word plays to a bigger issue) is even more impressive.
A seriously weighty offering, Salt Roots sees Wille Edwards (lead vocals, dobro, lap steel, electric & acoustic guitars) and bassist/ backing vocalist these last six years Harry Mackaill joined by renowned keys man Stevie Watts (Hammond, clavinet, piano) and drummer & percussionist Joe Harris, who also adds backing vocals.
(Noted session drummer Zach O’Loughlin has since joined the band for live shows).
It's also worth noting the contributions from producer & musician Josiah Manning, who co-wrote and co-produced the album with Wille Edwards, and features on additional guitars, as well as backing vocals (as do Alex Hart and Phoebe Jane).
Impacting opener 'Wheal Jane' takes a dark, blues-rock dive down the shafts that led to Cornwall’s historic tin mine.
Heavy in more ways than one, the tense groove that drives 'Wheal Jane' is a musical cry to the resilience of the miners who worked all hours for Cornwall’s once thriving industry and the dangers therein.
The album then shifts, with equally powerful impetus, from the industrial to the environmental via 'Trouble Round The Bend,' which points the finger at those responsible for the ever rising (vindictive pun fully intended) problem of sewage being dumped into our seas.
Driven by a huge, dirty riff that goes toe to sewage covered toe with the issue ("can you smell something, it’s that shit they’re pumpin’… just leave our ocean’s alone!" sings Wille Edwards with seriously angered conviction) 'Trouble Round The Bend,' backed by a powerful beat, Hammond depth, and a lyrically considered breakdown part, isn’t just one of Wille and the Bandit’s most powerful songs to date, it’s one of the most powerful songs you’ll hear this year – or see, via the accompanying video.
The impressive heavyweight sonics continue with 'King Kong.'
A strutting, rhythmic, fuzz framed monster (natch) of a song that carries touches of Zeppelin in a contemporary rock-blues setting, it does, indeed, as Wille Edwards emphatically shouts, "hit ya like King Kong!"
Funky contrast then comes calling in the blues-groovin’ shape of 'Style Thing,' a number that’s as Hammond cool as it is Latin shaped in its percussive rhythms.
Another musical shade of the band is then beautifully expressed through the spacey and atmospheric 'Take My Shoulder,' which sports a short but delightfully delicate solo from Wille Edwards that complements his heartfelt, supportive vocal ("take my shoulder… forget tomorrow, breath instead").
The band’s rootsy, blues core returns on the southern swamp 'n' stomp of 'Know My Name' (which utilises some clever, blues-rap vocal parts and guitar treatments) before embarking on the historically cleaner seas for 'Sail Away (Mayflower).'
Musically spacious (you can almost hear the cry of the seagulls as the famous ship leaves Plymouth), the lamenting ballad tells the departing tale of one Pilgrim’s onward journey ("when you hold my son, will you give him my name? Got to sail away…").
The funk quotient returns for the snappy and bluesy 'Stand Up' which, like 'Know My Name,' features some blues-rap stylings and purposeful backing vocal support, as Wille Edwards implores that "we gotta stand up!" (The woozy little slide & percussion breakdown part adds nice contrast to this otherwise punchy number).
The swaying and Latin-vibed 'Reina Del Mar' is another sea orientated number, one dedicated to the power and sacredness of the ocean (the song’s title is Spanish for 'Queen of The Sea').
With piano, double bass, percussion and slide guitar all playing their musical part, 'Reina Del Mar' is as rhythmic and hypnotic as the lapping of the waves that form Spain’s Atlantic coastline.
The album closes on 'Homeward Bound,' a charming, mid-tempo blues-pop nod to the joys of returning home after the long and winding roads that form part of a touring musician’s life.
The line "the road turns to the ocean" is a lovely reinforcement of not just one of the album’s main themes, but a nod to Wille Edwards own homeward journey to Cornwall and its beautiful, albeit under pollutive threat, coastlines.
Wille & The Bandits stand tall and proud as advocates for social awareness, environmental responsibility and pointing fingers where they need to be pointed.
That Salt Roots also stands tall and proud as one of their best albums speaks as highly to their music and musicianship as it does to their values.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Salt Roots will be released 27th February.
Pre-order here: https://www.willeandthebandits.com/pre-order-salt-roots
Wille and the Bandits have partnered with Surfers Against Sewage, one of the UK’s leading ocean charities, to use their music as a platform for change: https://www.sas.org.uk/
A strutting, rhythmic, fuzz framed monster (natch) of a song that carries touches of Zeppelin in a contemporary rock-blues setting, it does, indeed, as Wille Edwards emphatically shouts, "hit ya like King Kong!"
Funky contrast then comes calling in the blues-groovin’ shape of 'Style Thing,' a number that’s as Hammond cool as it is Latin shaped in its percussive rhythms.
Another musical shade of the band is then beautifully expressed through the spacey and atmospheric 'Take My Shoulder,' which sports a short but delightfully delicate solo from Wille Edwards that complements his heartfelt, supportive vocal ("take my shoulder… forget tomorrow, breath instead").
The band’s rootsy, blues core returns on the southern swamp 'n' stomp of 'Know My Name' (which utilises some clever, blues-rap vocal parts and guitar treatments) before embarking on the historically cleaner seas for 'Sail Away (Mayflower).'
Musically spacious (you can almost hear the cry of the seagulls as the famous ship leaves Plymouth), the lamenting ballad tells the departing tale of one Pilgrim’s onward journey ("when you hold my son, will you give him my name? Got to sail away…").
The funk quotient returns for the snappy and bluesy 'Stand Up' which, like 'Know My Name,' features some blues-rap stylings and purposeful backing vocal support, as Wille Edwards implores that "we gotta stand up!" (The woozy little slide & percussion breakdown part adds nice contrast to this otherwise punchy number).
The swaying and Latin-vibed 'Reina Del Mar' is another sea orientated number, one dedicated to the power and sacredness of the ocean (the song’s title is Spanish for 'Queen of The Sea').
With piano, double bass, percussion and slide guitar all playing their musical part, 'Reina Del Mar' is as rhythmic and hypnotic as the lapping of the waves that form Spain’s Atlantic coastline.
The album closes on 'Homeward Bound,' a charming, mid-tempo blues-pop nod to the joys of returning home after the long and winding roads that form part of a touring musician’s life.
The line "the road turns to the ocean" is a lovely reinforcement of not just one of the album’s main themes, but a nod to Wille Edwards own homeward journey to Cornwall and its beautiful, albeit under pollutive threat, coastlines.
Wille & The Bandits stand tall and proud as advocates for social awareness, environmental responsibility and pointing fingers where they need to be pointed.
That Salt Roots also stands tall and proud as one of their best albums speaks as highly to their music and musicianship as it does to their values.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Salt Roots will be released 27th February.
Pre-order here: https://www.willeandthebandits.com/pre-order-salt-roots
Wille and the Bandits have partnered with Surfers Against Sewage, one of the UK’s leading ocean charities, to use their music as a platform for change: https://www.sas.org.uk/
