Album Review: The Last Internationale - Live At Arda Recorders
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
Monday 10th November 2014 and Robert Plant, the legendary frontman and internationally acclaimed solo artist played a date at the Newport Centre in support of his beautiful ‘Lullaby … And the Ceaseless Roar’ album. Support for this tour was a little-known band called The Last Internationale, a duo comprised Delila Paz and Edgey Pires from New York City. An hour after their fabulous set, people were still buzzing around them at the merch stall. Their debut release ‘We Will Reign’ was a powerful record. Alas, I let the band fall of my radar slightly but was thrilled to be reacquainted with them on this latest record, ‘Live at Arda Recorders’. Recorded with good friends from the French electro rock band Shaka Ponk: Ion Meunier, on drums, Mandris Da Cruz on Bass and Steve Desgarceaux on Keys, Live at Arda Recorders is eight songs of classy blues rock which sees the band firing on their usual maximum cylinders.
It's the smoky drawl of Paz that immediately captures the attention on opener ‘Soul on Fire’, a smouldering almost solo piece that sees her open the pipes to great effect. The addition of the guest musicians allows the song to flesh out, whilst Pires is given reign to show his chops with some feisty guitar work.
As the album progresses, we are treated to a range of styles. There is no one-track genre here, although Paz’s delivery is inevitably soulfully bluesy. The music is full bodied, deep, and complex, yet retains some of the grit shown in their early music. Shorter songs like the electro-tinged ‘Try Me’ and album closer ‘Fall Back Down’ sit comfortably next to the longer ‘Running for a Dream’ and the album’s centrepiece, the explosive ‘Hard Times’. The latter opens in a style reminiscent to The Groundhogs, a swirling lone guitar doused in feedback segues into a brief duel between vocals and guitar, before the track finally gets into its stride, the tub-thumping bass pushing the whole band forward, the mix of soaring guitar, thick organ and Paz’s stunning performance possibly the highlight of the album.
In ‘Live at Arda Recorders’ The Last Internationale have captured their live sound in 40 minutes of honest, live recording. No overdubs, just pure graft and a plug and play attitude. The result is an album that captures the essence of the band. If you know them, this will be a welcome addition to the collection. If you are new to the band, this is an excellent entry point.
THE LAST INTERNATIONALE ??❤️?? Real Music ?..best lyrics ..