‘Arkansas‘ is the title of the new album from John Oates, and to say it’s something of a change of direction from what one might expect from this artist is a reasonable statement of fact. This is not blue-eyed soul. There are no eighties synths. John Oates is a big fan of Mississippi John Hurt, and this album was conceived originally as a way of honouring that admiration. And it evolved some as Oates expanded what was originally going to be the perhaps expected vocal and guitar sound to encompass a fuller band approach. Asked about the album’s style and the sound of Arkansas, John Oates has said: “It’s like Dixieland, dipped in bluegrass, and salted with Delta blues.”
