My Darling Clementine
Album: The Reconcilliation
Label: Continental Song City
Tracks: 12
Website: http://mydarlingclementinemusic.co.uk

In 2011, British husband and wife country duo Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish released their first album together as My Darling Clementine. Titled "How Do You Plead", it was [deservedly] highly acclaimed and was even described as the greatest UK country album of original material ever. The debut album was a stunning evocation of the classic country duets of the 1960's and early 1970's [ think George Jones and Tammy Wynette and you won't go far wrong]. The album featured a stellar line up of British musicians, including Martin Belmont of The Rumour on guitar and Geraint Watkins on keyboards.

The Big Question for me was - could My Darling Clementine emulate the success of their debut with their sophomore offering, or was "How Do You Plead" a distinguished one-off?

The answer is that the follow-up album "The Reconciliation ?" is every bit as good as its predecessor and, in some respects, is even better.

My Darling Clementine have not rested on their laurels and simply trotted out "How Do You Plead ? Part 2", this new album is clearly a step change for their music. They have used a new studio [Yellow Arch in Sheffield], a new producer [Colin Elliot, who has worked with Richard Hawley] and a new set of musicians [basically Richard Hawley's band].

In fact, apart from Michael and Lou, the only other constant is their superb, long-standing pedal steel guitarist, Alan Cook, whose melodic playing makes a great contribution to the authenticity of MDC's sound.

Not only have MDC made the above changes, they have broadened the scope of their lyrics to include more diverse subject matter and have also extended their musical boundaries to include country soul, gospel, Tex-Mex and Western Swing, amongst other genres of American roots music.

Don't get me wrong, the new album still contains a number of the classic country duets for which MDC justifiably famous but as Michael says " this new album is more about building on what we have done but also making it a little more contemporary".

"The Reconciliation?" consists of twelve tracks, all but one of which were written by Michael and/or Lou. The songs are of an extremely high quality and deal with issues such as divorce, break -ups, infidelity, domestic violence, bereavement and parenthood. As one newspaper used to proclaim "All human life is here".

The one cover song is the great "I Can't Live With You [When You Can't Live With Yourself]"by Ronnie Self, which was suggested to Michael by fellow songwriter Jeb Loy Nichols.

There's so much emotional depth to the songs on this album that I could write a dissertation on them but, as I am sure you will be pleased to learn, I will confine myself to the highlights, of which there are many.

The album begins, in great style with "Unhappily Ever After", which features Texan legend Kinky Friedman as a judge who is valiantly trying to reconcile the differences of a warring married couple, without much success, as they clearly can't stand each other.

"No Heart In This Heartache" is a classic Country break-up song, penned by Michael, in which the abandoned lover proclaims " There's no ache in this heartache, there's only good in goodbye".

MDC move into Dusty In Memphis territory with "Our Race Is Run", a classic country-soul ballad, complete with a faithful recreation of a Stax horn section. Great stuff.

"Leave The Good Book On The Shelf" follows the same sort of storyline as Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side Of Life", where "the little girl you married" starts "backsliding" and has "no time to say a prayer" as "the only thing she's got time for is fixing up her hair" in order to go out "painting up the town". Like Kitty Wells in "Honky Tonk Angels", her response to Hank Tompson's song, this wife blames men for her downfall: " All the good men in this world have made a bad girl out of me".

Talking of response songs, Lou has written a brilliant riposte to "Stand By Your Man" with her composition "No Matter What Tammy Said [I Won't Stand By Him]" in which the woman, who has suffered domestic violence, steadfastly refuses to forgive her man for what he has done to her.

One of my personal favourites on the album is Michael and Lou's sensitive observation "I No Longer Take Pride", in which a previously dapper man ceases to take pride in his appearance following the demise of his loved one. It contains the immortal lines : "These days I don't drive, I lost my licence last fall, Driving under the influence of a girl blonde and tall". Wonderful!

Michael's "King Of The Carnival" has a glorious Tex-Mex/Tijuana Brass feel to it and describes the situation of a travelling circus performer in Mexico whose wife has left him because she could no longer take the life but who becomes "King of the Carnival when the spotlight hits the ring".

Lou contributes two very personal songs. The first one "Ashes, Flowers and Dust" deals with the loss of one's parents and is in memory of her late father and Michael's late mother and how she wishes that they could "come back for a few hours and hold my daughter's hand once more". The other "Miracle Mabel" is a delightful song about the birth of Lou and Michael's daughter, which "Is not a song for Christmas" but which expresses Lou's joy at the miracle "which is so hard to believe it happened to me" and the fact that "We are three".

In summary, this is a superb follow-up to "How Do You Plead ?" and it deserves to be every bit as successful as that highly acclaimed debut. Indeed, I would even go so far as to say that this new album actually surpasses its illustrious predecessor.

Peter Cowley