Review: Brandon Santini ‘Which Way Do We Go?’
By Hal Horowitz
You can take the man out of Memphis but you can’t take Memphis out of the man, is a tweak on the truism. But in Brandon Santini’s case, it’s life following art.
That’s because singer/harpist Santini, now living in Springfield, Illinois, returned to Memphis where he got his schooling in all things music, for the recording of ‘Which Way Do We Go?,’ his fifth album. The 11 song collection is steeped and sautéed in the city’s notoriously dusky, often cautionary, Southern sound. Santini and producer/player Jeff Jensen capture the rugged combination of soul, blues and swamp rock in the context of original songs, some reflecting the socio-political themes of these times.
Santini is a triple threat; a muscularly soulful singer boasting powerful baritone pipes, a skillful, technically astute harmonica player, and searing songsmith who steers clear from the musical clichés of his chosen genre. Most crucially, he knows when to play, when to leave room and how to let the music breathe naturally. Those aspects make every track poke the gut as Santini and his remarkably sympathetic band show us how it should be done.
The mid-tempo heartbeat drums kick off the opening title track reflecting that Memphis sound in all its roughhewn beauty. It sets up Santini’s sorrowful acoustic harmonica until his bellowing voice takes control with “The world keeps turning with or without us…I want to know brothers and sisters which way do we go…” finally breaking into a sing-along bridge of “Clap your hands for the ones you love.” You’ll be singing the chorus after the first play.
And that’s just the beginning.
Santini’s band lays down memorable repeated riffs as in the rocked up “See That Pony” and the dreamier “Trouble Stay Away,” urging the frontman to grind out his lyrics and especially terse, tensile harmonica solos that never overstay their welcome. The skeletal lick from The Doors’ version of “Back Door Man” is the backbone for the gutsy “Do What Comes Naturally,” chugging ahead like a locomotive picking up speed as Santini rails about the phony aspects of contemporary culture singing “What’s done in the dark will surely come into the light.” Jensen ups the intensity with a wild wah-wah-enhanced guitar solo on the set’s most roaring moment.
We take a stroll down the rain-soaked Memphis backstreets on the throbbing walking bass of “Blues So Bad.” Santini’s raw, plugged-in harmonica mirrors the song’s insurgent sense of danger and caution over a tough shuffle that defines the darker flank of blues. He blows as insistently as a jackhammer, pushing the boundaries of his lowly instrument, carving space and dynamics like a sculptor. Unlike some harp performers who value and display speed over feeling, Santini extends his notes, letting them teeter over the side of a cliff, pulling back before they topple over the edge. It’s a master class in yin/yang subtleties, creating then loosening tension by just the force of his breath.
Listen how his drawling, gruff voice on “Baby’s Got Soul” over a throbbing backing of tamped-down drums and steaming bass prefaces the chorus where he crustily portends “Take me down to the river and wash my troubles away.” The band rises to a crescendo on a pounding riff other acts would sell their instruments for, then drops back to bubbling-under pressure.
On the outstanding ‘Which Way Do We Go?’ Brandon Santini returns to his Memphis musical roots, fulfilling the promises he started with when learning his craft in a city whose music thrives on the soul and blues he revels in.
He has been gearing up for this moment for the past 20-something years.
“Which Way Do We Go?”
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