It might have seemed that this choice was on the cards all along, Americana UK has hardly hidden its collective love for The Delines under a bushel – but then look at the rest of the top albums of the year and it’s pretty obvious that it was going to take something special to make it to the top spot, and that’s “Mr Luck & Ms Doom“, something special for certain. There’s something about the combination of Willy Vlautin’s literary lyrics, painting such vivid scenes, the perfect musical settings that Cory Gray, Sean Oldham, Freddy Trujillo along with Willy create – and then there’s Amy Boone who breathes life into the words. Sassy, on ‘Left Hook Like Frazier‘ the Motown adjacent song on how an all time loser in life can finally make things worse for themselves through the medium of love. And then just completely ground down on the heart-breaking ‘Sitting On The Curb‘ as a relationship dissolves under the weight of infidelity, there’s such a weight in the delivered line “What does she have that I don’t have? And why would you hurt me?” that leaves the listener under no illusions that this is in any way repairable. ‘Her Ponyboy‘ may be The Delines’ finest description yet of lives that have glimmers of positivity that quickly become coloured only by misfortunes and, in this case, drug addiction which drags down every time a way out seems to hail into sight. There are drugs drifting through many of the songs, dealt with in an unjudgemental way as yet another way to further derail lives already starting from a point of complex difficulties. But listen to this and mostly you’ll hear sadness encapsulated. You’ll also, naturally, hear mini-noire epics like ‘Nancy & The Pensacola Pimp‘ where Willy Vlautin deftly squashes a full length movie down into four minutes.
“Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom” had several strong advocates amongst the writing team, with AUK’s Peter Thompson writing that: “The Delines just go from strength to strength. “Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom” is the sixth album release by the Portland, Oregon outfit and it features 11 original songs from the pen of the prolific Willy Vlautin. The record marks a slight change in emphasis from the band’s previous outings, with more tunes of the uptempo variety and also some with a more positive outcome. Challenged by singer Amy Boone to write a “straight up love song where no one dies and nothing goes wrong”, Vlautin responded with the title track, setting the tone for the LP. In common with all of the bands’ records, the songs are filled with believable characters that you end up feeling invested in. This album gets better with each listen.”
And AUK’s Tim Martin added that he’d selected the album because “Willy Vlautin’s unique ability to build characters, makes any Delines album a joy to return to. There is always a new gift to uncover. This time it was ‘Her Ponyboy,’ based on the S.E. Hinton novel. Books and songs bleed together with stories from songs continuing in novels, and all voiced by Amy Boone whose singing is just perfect for Vlautin’s narrative songs. Their timeless country soul sound is uplifting or melancholy to suit the song’s mood. Cory Gray’s Wurlitzer is one of the great textural instrumental sounds, and the rhythm section always seems to know just what’s needed. Perfection.”
On being told about “Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom” taking the top spot in the Top 20 albums of the year Willy Vlautin was typically modest in his reaction, telling us that ““Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom” was a record we built and re-built for a long time. I don’t remember ever worrying over a record more. So that the writers of Americana UK voted it their favorite of the year means the world to me and The Delines. It’s a hell of an early Christmas present, that’s for sure. Thanks and thanks again.”
