With albums such as Yerself Is Steam and See You on the Other Side, <person>Mercury Rev</person>’s 1990s were defined by bold experimentation. But that sense of adventure has been largely absent in the 20 years since 1998’s <person>Deserter</person>’s Songs, their music too often solid as opposed to spectacular. So if nothing else, The Delta Sweete Revisited offers an unexpected change of direction.
Out go <person>Jonathan Donahue</person>’s distinctive vocals, to be replaced by 13 female singers – including such big names as <person>Norah Jones</person>, <person>Beth Orton</person> and <person>Lucinda Williams</person> – each of whom tackle a song from <person>Bobbie Gentry</person>’s 1968 cult country-blues classic. The stately arrangements, meanwhile, are more about subtly embellishing the sultry originals – a flash of saw here, an orchestral flourish there – rather than completely overhauling them: the lush backing on Tobacco Road only serves to accentuate the song’s drama, for example.
The standout performance comes from country singer <person>Margo Price</person>, who depicts living a life in fear of a vengeful God on the powerful Sermon (“God almighty’s gonna cut you down”). But <person>Williams</person> deserves credit too, for her impassioned take on <person>Ode</person> to <person>Billie Joe</person>, a 1967 US No 1 single drafted in here to replace the original album’s inessential Louisiana Man.