Remember when, during a maths exam, you were asked not only to provide an answer but to show your workings? In a musical sense that’s what Dean Owens has done here. We await the final answer in the shape of his forthcoming album, Spirit Ridge (due out in February and to be premiered at Celtic Connections) but The Ridge Trilogy ( three EPs released separately and now combined into one package) are his workings, laid out in full in the expectation of top marks.
Owens pioneered this approach in the run up to his 2022 album, Sinner’s Shrine, recorded with members of Calexico in Tucson. This was a pre and post pandemic album in that the basic tracks were recorded before the world shut down, leading to a frustrating long wait before the album was eventually released. In the interim, the ever restless Owens decided to, well, show his workings over the course of three EPs, each containing a song from the eventual album along with demos and works in progress. These were eventually gathered together in a stand-alone release, a companion disc to Sinner’s Shrine. It was an astute move as fans flocked to buy what has become a somewhat collectible artefact.
In the wake of Sinner’s Shrine, Owens was introduced to Italy’s Antonio Gramentieri by their mutual friend, John Convertino of Calexico. Gramentieri, better known these days as Don Antonio, is the mastermind behind the astonishing Sacri Cuori and a collaborator with Alejandro Escovedo, Richard Buckner and Dan Stuart amidst many others. He has a kaleidoscopic musical vision, connecting the likes of Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone’s cinema scores, Euro pop, tango, surf music and a nod to the subversive pop genius of Serge Gainsbourg. The pair hit it off, Owens Italian lineage part of the connection, and soon enough he was off to Italy to record his next album in Don Antonio’s studio in Crinale, close to Bologna. Crinale translates to Ridge, hence the title of the forthcoming album and this curtain raiser.
The Ridge Trilogy consists of three EPs, (Ghost Walking, Ridgeline and Sacri Cuori) released over the past three months and now gathered together in a bespoke package. Each contains a song from the forthcoming album along with demos and alternative takes (Overall there are 13 tracks on the CDs. Four from the upcoming Spirit Ridge album, five from the album sessions and four acoustic demos) and it is a limited edition so best to snap one up before they head into Discogs purgatory. There’s quality control present throughout, the demos as urgent as the finished songs, so, in essence, the trilogy is a companion album to its big brother, arriving soon.
The trilogy kicks off with My Beloved Hills, a song destined for the album. It’s a classic Owens song, awash with the calm and grace and serenity one can find within nature. It’s a peace of mind which Owens’ has sung about on many occasions. His creative spirit seems to grow wings when he’s roaming hills, glens or, in this case, an Italian ridge, giving him free rein to recall past times, his family and friends. The song is given an almost imperial procession with its sweeping strings and billowing horns while Gramentieri’s guitar adds a powerful undertow, tethering the song to earth. As a taster for the album, it’s irresistible as are the other songs previewed here. Light This World is a propulsive smorgasbord of driving guitars, urgent string sections and John Barry like keyboards while Owens sounds like a frenzied update of Scott Walker’s melodramatic sixties songs. Spirit Of Us slowly uncoils itself as Owens revives a song from his past, an intimate portrait of family love, while Tame The Lion again recalls Owens’ lion taming ancestor who, uncannily, came to Scotland from the very same region of Italy where Don Antonio now resides. A powerful song it’s given a slightly funky delivery with some Memphis southern soul in its fibre.
Of the fully realised songs which seem to have not made the final cut, it’s somewhat astounding that Come With Me doesn’t seem to appear on the album. It’s quite tremendous as Owens croons over Gramentieri’s trembling guitars on a grimy spytastic 70s soundtrack song with Kirsten Adamson adding some magnificent harmonies. The same can be said for True Of You which is a sensational brew of wicked guitars and ecstatic fiddling which boils and bubbles with grim intent over a sensational five and a half minutes. These two songs are worth the price of admission on their own but you can add to that the grungy Tex Mex of El Minuto (which harks back to Sinner’s Shrine) before Owens keenly ties up all connections on the short, whistled, tune, Sergio’s Kitchen, allowing him to acknowledge the ties between the iconic dusty desert spaghetti westerns which were alluded to on Sinner’s Shrine and their Italian origins.
Of the demos, there’s more whistling on the sublime The Gloaming which finds Owens’ impressive pursing of his lips surrounded by an ethereal chorus while Sinner Of Sinners, The Buzzard & The Crow and A Divine Tragedy are all solo deliveries of songs which will be fleshed out on the forthcoming album. All three are quite compelling in their delivery even without any bells and whistles he and Don Antonio have decided to adorn them with once they emerge fully fledged on Spirit Ridge.
A taster then, but much more than that. All three EPs stand proud on their own merit and this collection of all of them is a significant release. The EPs are all available digitally and if are quick enough, you might be able to grab one of the very limited CD digipacks which contains all of them. And, after that, be prepared for the album release in early February.
And, by the way, Owens gets top marks here for showing all of his workings.
All three EPs are available here