Black Bayou
A photo of Finley with a thick black border
Studio album by
Robert Finley
ReleasedOctober 27, 2023 (2023-10-27)
StudioEasy Eye Sound, Nashville, Tennessee, US
Genre
Length40:21
LanguageEnglish
LabelEasy Eye Sound
ProducerDan Auerbach
Robert Finley chronology
Sharecropper's Son
(2021)		 Black Bayou
(2023)

“It doesn’t matter what kind of voice you have. If you’re not saying nothing to make sense, it’s not doing any good... What comes from the heart goes to the heart.”

—Robert Finley on the importance of authenticity in his songwriting.[2]

Black Bayou is the fourth full-length studio album from American blues musician Robert Finley, released in 2023. It has received positive reviews from critics and builds upon his earlier style to incorporate soul music.

Reception

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Black Bayou received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 from four critic scores.[3] Writing for American Songwriter, Hal Horowitz scored this release 4 out 5 stars, stating that compared to Finley's previous work, "there’s a crispness created by this less structured environment that is natural, earthy, and spontaneous".[4] Glide Magazine's Jim Hynes suggested that this album could help Finley break into the mainstream.[5] Mojo published David Hutcheon's five-star review that calls this "a slow cruise through a landscape populated by Flannery O’Connor scenarios and escapees from the untamed ecosystems of Tom Waits’s imagination" and Southern Gothic soul music.[1] Jim Shahen of No Depression considers this work an expansion of Finley's sound that includes doo-wop ballads and swampy grooves.[6] In Spill Magazine, this was an Editor's Pick and critic Ljubinko Zivkovic scored it a 9 out of 10, comparing the music to the heydays of Stax Records, writing that it is "as if Albert King with Booker T. & The MG’s are back at it again, but this time around Robert Finley does that sound some excellent justice, and life is all good again".[7] Johnny Sharp of Uncut stated that on this release, Finley's lyrics have expanded beyond his personal experience and Finley has grown into a more mature storyteller.[8]

Mojo ranked this the 75th best album of 2023.[9] Uncut editor Michael Bonner included this album on his list of the best of the year.[10] Editors at Spin included this among the albums of the year.[11]

Track listing

  1. "Livin’ Out a Suitcase" (Dan Auerbach, Kenny Brown, Patrick Carney, Eric Deaton, and Robert Finley) – 3:09
  2. "Sneakin’ Around" (Auerbach, Brown, Carney, Deaton, and Finley) – 3:41
  3. "Miss Kitty" (Auerbach, Brown, Jeffrey Clemens, Deaton, and Finley) – 3:59
  4. "Waste of Time" (Auerbach, Brown, Clemens, Deaton, and Finley) – 3:35
  5. "Can’t Blame Me for Trying" (Auerbach, Brown, Carney, Deaton, and Finley) – 3:30
  6. "Gospel Blues" (Auerbach, Brown, Clemens, Deaton, and Finley) – 2:49
  7. "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" (Auerbach, Brown, Clemens, Deaton, and Finley) – 3:14
  8. "What Goes Around (Comes Around)" (Auerbach, Brown, Carney, Deaton, and Finley) – 3:37
  9. "Lucky Day" (Auerbach, Brown, Clemens, Deaton, and Finley) – 3:24
  10. "You Got It (And I Need It)" (Auerbach, Brown, Clemens, Deaton, and Finley) – 3:20
  11. "Alligator Bait" (Auerbach, Brown, Clemens, Deaton, and Finley) – 6:10

Personnel

  • Robert Finley – guitar, vocals
  • Dan Auerbach – guitar, percussion, handclaps, mixing, production
  • Sam Bacco – percussion
  • Kenny Brown – guitar
  • Patrick Carney – drums on "Livin' Out a Suitcase", "Sneakin' Around", "Can't Blame Me for Trying", and "What Goes Around (Comes Around)"
  • Jeffrey Clemens – drums on "Miss Kitty", "Waste of Time", "Gospel Blues", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", "Lucky Day", "You Got It (And I Need It)", and "Alligator Bait"
  • Eric Deaton – bass guitar
  • Jim Herrington – photography
  • Ray Jacildo – organ on "Livin' Out a Suitcase", "Miss Kitty", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", and "What Goes Around (Comes Around)"; Wurlitzer organ on "Livin' Out a Suitcase"; and piano on "Miss Kitty", and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely"
  • McKinley James – engineering assistance
  • Christy Johnson – backing vocals on "Miss Kitty", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", and "What Goes Around (Comes Around)"
  • LaQuindrelyn McMahon – backing vocals on "Miss Kitty", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", and "What Goes Around (Comes Around)"
  • M. Allen Parker – recording, engineering, mixing
  • Tim Quine – harp on "Livin' Out a Suitcase", "Sneakin' Around", "Waste of Time", "Gospel Blues", "What Goes Around (Comes Around)", and "Lucky Day"
  • Perry Shall – design, layout
  • Ryan Smith – mastering at Sterling Sound Nashville, Tennessee, United States
  • Jonny Ullman – engineering assistance
  • Caleb VanBuskirk – additional engineering
  • Tyler Zwiep – engineering assistance

Charts

Chart performance for Black Bayou
Chart (2023) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[12] 196
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] 98

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hutcheon, David (October 27, 2022). "Robert Finley Black Bayou Review: Louisiana bluesman's fourth digs deep into life on the bayou". Articles | New Music. Mojo. ISSN 1351-0193. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  2. ↑ Wollen, Miranda (August 3, 2023). "Robert Finley is Just Getting Started". Music > Features > Robert Finley. Paste. ISSN 1540-3106. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Black Bayou by Robert Finley Reviews and Tracks – Metacritic". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. n.d. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  4. ↑ Horowitz, Hal (October 24, 2023). "Review: Robert Finley's 'Black Bayou' Exudes Raw, Swampy Authenticity". Reviews > Album Reviews. American Songwriter. ISSN 0896-8993. OCLC 17342741. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  5. ↑ Hynes, Jim (October 25, 2023). "The Newfound Legend of Robert Finley Continues With Hearty 'Black Bayou'". Album Reviews. Glide Magazine. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ Shahen, Jim (October 24, 2023). "Album Review: Robert Finley Expands His Range on 'Black Bayou'". Reviews. No Depression. ISSN 1088-4971. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  7. ↑ Zivkovic, Ljubinko (October 27, 2023). "Spill Album Review: Robert Finley – Black Bayou". Album Reviews. Spill Magazine. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  8. ↑ Sharp, Johnny (October 23, 2023). "Robert Finley – Black Bayou". Reviews. Uncut. ISSN 1368-0722. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  9. ↑ "MOJO's Top 75 Albums of 2023". BrooklynVegan. November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023. from the original in Mojo, issue 362 (ISSN 1351-0193
  10. ↑ Bonner, Michael (December 6, 2023). "The Best Albums Of 2023 – the Editor's picks". Features > Blogs. Uncut. ISSN 1368-0722. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Our Editors Pick Their Albums of the Year". Features >> Our Editors Pick Their Albums of the Year. Spin. December 12, 2023. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Top Albums (Week 44, 2023)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Robert Finley – Black Bayou". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
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