The songstress of Camelot is back, folks, and she's brought a bunch of new friends with her.
Longtime readers of the DV will know that I get passionate about
certain artists, especially when I discover them for the first time
-- and will remember the great praise I lavished on Heather Dale's
2000 release,
The Trial Of Lancelot. Now Dale is back with her latest,
May Queen -- and boy, if I thought the last one was
good…
Plain and simple, Dale gives me chills. Her voice, rich and expressive, is a magnificent instrument made for storytelling and evoking emotion -- and emotion there is a-plenty on May Queen. While The Trial Of Lancelot was all about the endings inherent in the Arthurian mythic cycle, May Queen is about beginnings; as such, Dale allows herself even more room to unleash the power of her vocals. On songs like "Kingsword" and "Exile", it's like standing against a high wind at the sheer majesty of the work.
The production and engineering on this CD is excellent. Dale has branched out in her musical styles on May Queen; the backing musicians handle such disparate styles as an almost torchy jazz ("War Between Brothers") and an almost snarling, throaty blues-rock ("Prodigal Son") with equal skill. Worthy of note is the fact that May Queen is a much deeper sound than The Trial Of Lancelot; more multi-layered and textured, with Chris Evans' electric guitar work and Jason MacNeill's backing vocals (especially on the title track) being worth special note. Dale has grown as a lyricist as well. I can't describe the shudder I had the first time I heard the two pivotal lines in "The May Queen". Lancelot speaking of the first time he beheld Guenivere: "And I was staring at the sun for hours the morning after // trying to burn it from my eyes…" Wow. Just wow.
Other tracks of note include the sweet and idealistic love song "As I Am" (I smell an SCA handfasting favorite here); the dreamy and wistful "Three Queens" -- and my personal favorite, "Crashing Down", with Mordred recast as a rabble-rouser calling for the destruction of a dream gone rotten at the core.
May Queen is a powerful statement from an artist whose talent never fails to amaze me. Check it out today.
For more information or to order May Queen, check out Heather's website.