Mutual respect and a classy collaboration.
The gist – it has been more than ten years since Coyle Girelli co-wrote with country singer/songwriter Mac Davis. Davis wrote two of Presley’s biggest hits, ‘In the Ghetto’ and ‘A Little Less Conversation’. Davis died in 2020, leaving Girelli with a collection of demos and unfinished songs. He has finally completed the material, and “Out of This Town” is his posthumous tribute to Davis. The tracks were intended as duets but additional support comes from KT Tunstall, Cassandra Lewis and Jamie Wyatt.
Released via Sun Records, Girelli’s voice on this album evokes similarities to Roy Orbison, who was signed to the label in 1956. Produced by Girelli, “Out of This Town” has eleven tracks with intentionally sparse instrumentation. Album notes refer to “a stark but spellbinding sound that spotlights Girelli’s soulful (soaring) vocals while preserving the visceral impact of the project’s demos.” The generational mix works beautifully on ‘Already Gone’, the first song Girelli and Davis wrote together, and title track ‘Out of this Town’. The outpouring of unrequited love on ‘It Only Hurts When I’m Awake’ has a classy timelessness while ‘Lost to the River’ blends a Pulp-rhythm with an Orbison-vibrato and some subtle back up from Tunstall. It is a strong start.
The next set of devotional tracks are less interesting. ‘Like Only a Woman Can’, ‘I’m on Fire’, ‘I Wanna Make Love’, and ‘Mary in the Moonlight’ sound dated. They certainly flex Girelli’s operatic vocal cords but don’t feel quite right, like best kept reminisces from an ageing ladies man. ‘I Wanna Make Love’ just sounds desperate.
But then it gets interesting again, ‘Everyone But Me and You’ is a lovely, bitter-sweet duet with Cassandra Lewis. ‘Pretty’ is another fine track enhanced with a bit more instrumentation, sounding like a long-lost B-side of Orbison. Jaime Wyatt hardly gets a look in on ‘Never Thought I’d See You Again’, but there’s some fine piano accompaniment. Reverently, Girelli lets Mac Davis close the album with a less frantic, much more heartfelt and touching version of ‘I Wanna Make Love’.
