There’s a whole lot to like about Krystle Warren‘s latest album Three the Hard Way (Parlour Door Music) and blues is just a small part of it, with the album also including sounds of neosoul, R&B, hip hop, folk, jazz, gospel, and more.
Here’s one of the bluesier tunes off that project, the creeping “Nae-Nae and Ruthie”, with handclap-like percussion, gritty harmonica, subtle keys and guitar work, and Warren’s smooth yet sturdy, full-ranged vocals all combining to create a dark haunting groove.
If that leaves you looking for a little more from the album, you might start with the powerful, passionate “Thanks and Praise”; the slightly breezy, Beatles-esque “Get a Load”; the closing soul gospel of “Move”; or the slow, stirring “Red Clay”, a jazzy, soulful number regarding the weighty topic of a 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, race riot during which an African-American community was destroyed by the KKK.