Acclaimed jewel of dark country blues Cash Savage, and her band The Last Drinks, release their second LP The Hypnotiser on Friday 26 July. This stunning recording balances the soulful confessions of Cash’s compelling tales with evocative strings, triumphant horns, a 45-voice choir and the band leader’s impassioned cries of love, loss and despair.
The cohesiveness of the words and music is a more collaborative effort than on the band’s debut album, Wolf [2011]. Having spent the gulf between albums on the road — in country theatres, urban venues, the Famous Speigeltent, Meredith Music Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival and the willow-shrouded Riverboats Music Festival alongside Pete Murray, Clare Bowditch and James Reyne — the once fluid Last Drinks lineup has solidified. Together this group of musicians has created a work that alludes to an undercurrent of drunken kinship polished with hard yards, while still retaining the soul for which Cash is known.
Engineered by Melbourne-based Japanese-born Nao Anzai and produced by Nick Finch from Graveyard Train, Cash commenced recording with none of the preconceptions that framed Wolf. The result is a searingly honest, powerful release of uncompromising heartbreak and unbound love that becomes more alive and personal with each listen.
Listen back to Stone Love with Richie 1250 for a live set from Cash Savage & The Last Drinks.
