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The dozen songs included on B.B. Cole’s second album Of Love and Loss are full of what the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats referred to in his famed poem “Byzantium” as the “fury and mire of human veins”. The collection’s compositions are vividly alive. They reflect an artist fiercely engaged with her life experiences, never defeated by adversity, and who ultimately believes in music’s redemptive power. I’m enchanted by Cole’s Of Love and Loss in a way few 2024 releases have achieved; the unique soulful weight of her writing and singing shows that this European-born singer/songwriter is a global talent.
This album’s allure is immediate and infectious. My first time looking at the title for the opener, “(The Tale of) Lady Primrose”, answered no questions but, instead, beget plenty. Is this folk music inspired? Will it be an acoustic singer/songwriter-style material? Cole opts for her distinctive read on honkytonk-inspired country with a dollop of rock guitar thrown into the mix. The lyrics are strong and show a clear eye for significant detail. “Poor Beatrice” continues showcasing the personal songwriting character of B.B. Cole’s music. She claims country music giant Loretta Lynn as her chief inspiration to become a singer, and my review serves as notice that she’s carrying that baton with great skill. This has a more “down home” feel than the opener, and it makes for a subtle yet strong contrast.
The buoyant strut of “Close at Hand” is never too strident. However, it has enough verve in its musical step to keep me listening, and I appreciate Cole’s outside-the-box vocals. She doesn’t attempt to mimic the instrumental mood. She has a carefree way with the song’s phrasing that helps make it one of the album’s more immediately likable numbers. “Wave of Love” is an imaginative refurbishing of classic country tropes, never weighing me down with unwieldy cliches but nevertheless dropping me in familiar territory. Cole has a masterful feel for how these songs work. Her voice blends with the pristine beauty of the song’s pedal steel without any straining for effect.
An insistent pulse underpinning the remainder of “The Lion and the Virgin” opens the song. The easygoing lope of the band’s performance belies the lyrical content. However, she has a canny talent for playing even the weightiest moments in her songwriting with an unflinching looseness. Nothing ever sounds too big for her, too much of a reach. “The Sun Song” is a perfect way to illustrate that point. Nothing before this song really prepares me for her attempting the blues, but she brings it off with aplomb. There’s nothing farcical about it. I hear this track as a point where she digs deep and delivers one of her career’s defining performances.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/of-love-and-loss/1770706817
“Coffee Eyes” is another one of those tracks for me. She closes Of Love and Loss with a song that’s so completely meant for her and no one else that you come away knowing two key things. One, she’s barely scratched the surface of her gifts, and there’s more where this came from. Two, future releases will find a way for her to continue writing songs that utilize time-honored styles as sincere and thoroughly contemporary vehicles for self-expression. B.B. Cole’s Of Love and Loss doesn’t have any filler – I’ve only highlighted the truly exceptional tracks for me. Each song on this album is well worth your time.
Mark Druery
