Take Me Home by The Redlands Palomino Company

They’ve also made fans of numerous radio DJs including BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris, who repeatedly played tracks from their debut and also had them in for a live session, and Mark Radcliffe, who described the band as ‘fantastic’.

At the core of The Redlands Palomino Company are the stunning crystalline vocals of Hannah Elton-Wall – surely one of the most talented singer/songwriters around. Husband Alex Elton-Wall provides the perfect foil with his gritty lead vocals and harmonies, while the remaining members are just as important to Redlands’ sound – cliché-free pedal steel guitar, chiming 12-string and a full-on rock ‘n’ roll rhythm section complete the mix. Comparisons have been made with classic Ryan Adams, The Jayhawks and Wilco as well as The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Exile on Main Street-era Rolling Stones. Few who've seen or heard the band have failed to be won over by their energy, sincerity and heart.

With ‘Take Me Home’, The Redlands Palomino Company have honed their craft to perfection, with a fuller more mature sound, courtesy of co-producers Sean Read, (keyboard player with Beth Orton, Graham Coxon) and Chris Clarke (The Rockingbirds). From the epic string-drenched title track and the achingly sad ‘Harbour Lights’, to The Faces-like fuzz of ‘Pick Up, Shut Up’ and the power pop climax of ‘She Is Yours’, with ‘Take Me Home’ the band have substantially raised their game, delivering an album with even more variety and charm than their well-received debut.

Always true to their own musical vision, yet without denying their influences, the sheer accessibility of the songs and impressive strength of musicianship on ‘Take Me Home’ makes this the album that will surely bring them the wider success they deserve.

The past couple of years have seen The Redlands Palomino Company relentlessly honing their stagecraft by gigging extensively with transatlantic peers such as Richmond Fontaine, The Sadies, Gina Villalobos (who guests on ‘Take Me Home’), Tift Merritt, The Deadstring Brothers and many others. Undeniable evidence of this can be witnessed during February and March when the band head out on a UK tour to promote ‘Take Me Home’.

PRESS

“Expectations were high for this follow-up to 2004’s ‘By The Time You Here This…’ which proved that a British band can play Americana / alt-country better than many American bands. Thankfully the band has not made any great changes from the sound they produced on that debut. Basically it’s more of the same… but it’s not. There is more variety this time round, it’s not all country-rock; at times ‘Exile On Main Street’ Stones influences come through and even the Byrds come to mind at times. Maybe it’s the constant gigging over the last two years as the band sound more of a unit now; although readily showing their influences the band now never actually sound like their heroes; they sound like they have finally discovered their own sound.

And what a beautiful sound it is. The vocals of Hannah Elton-Wall always get special mention in any review and deservedly so, Hannah could well be the best singer Britain has to offer just now. She really is that good. The opening song, ‘Wasted On You’, which was also written by Hannah shows that she is not only an exceptional vocalist; she is an accomplished songwriter too. The song can’t make its mind up if it wants to rock out (in spite of the melancholy lyrics) or be a ballad. It’s the kind of song that makes you want to dance, raise a fist in the air and cry all at the same time. Hannah’s husband Alex is another superb singer who takes the main opening lines in this song, the gruffness in his voice being the perfect foil for Hannah’s angelic harmonies. Then Hannah starts trading lines with Alex and you realise you are hearing the first truly great song of the year. One listen to Hannah’s “She wonders where you are now” line and your heart melts, when the song reaches it’s peak and that same, passionate voice sings “ She’s wasted on you” over and over again there’s no turning back, Hannah has found a way into your soul and has no plans on leaving any time soon. It’s not just the highlight of this album; it’s the highlight of the year so far.

It’s no fluke either, the second song, another solo Hannah composition and the title song of the album, is a beautiful ballad, all piano, strings and acoustic guitars. Anyone who has ever left the comfort of home for the lure of bright lights and spent the rest of their time trying to make their way back will appreciate the lyrics here. Again, a superb vocal performance by Hannah and not for the first or last time she will break your heart.

By the third song, Alex obviously wanted to prove it wasn’t only his wife who could write a memorable tune. Taking the writing credits and the lead vocals, it’s full of chiming guitars, while Alex recalls his childhood, and it’s a melody you won’t get tired of, which is good as it will play in your head for days. The military drums, those background vocals and David Rothon’s guitar all contribute in making the song exceptional, with a sound not too far removed from Roger McGuinn fronting Drive By Truckers.

‘Please Come Running’ starts as another Hannah-penned heartbreaker, all acoustic guitar and weeping pedal steel before all hell breaks loose with the rousing chorus. Again, the rasping vocals from Alex offset Hannah’s innocent, pure voice remarkably well. Not for the first time the song picks up pace at the end and the interplay between the band, and especially the two vocalists is something that deserves to be heard. The band seem to throw in everything in the closing minute or so of this and some other songs, and it’s a good trick, even a ballad like this ends on an ‘up’ with you wanting more.

This band is outstanding, as is this collection of songs, one song will have you wanting to dance even if you haven’t for years (‘Pick Up, Shut Up’; a hybrid of The Stones, The Faces and Wilco), the next song will break your heart, (‘Burning It Down’ a gem of a song about not only lost love but lost roots too), but it’s something they can do within the confines of a single song too. That opening shot is just one prime example.

The album closes with a reprise of the title track. All strings and breathtaking guitar highlighting the poignant melody of the song before Hannah’s lone voice begs “Take Me Home” one last time.

This album is more than we could have hoped for, the band have taken the sound of their first album and expanded upon it but without sacrificing any of the appeal of that first collection of songs.

Twelve excellent songs, outstanding playing and production (by Sean Read and Chris Clarke), two of the best singers to emerge from Britain in recent years and exceptional songwriters make this one of the strongest albums we are likely to hear all year.” - Pennyblack Music (Jan 07)

“It took the Redlands Palamino Company a good 2 years to come up with a second album, but Take Me Home, the follow up to their debut album By the Time You'll Hear This...We'll be Gone is worth your patience!

The band hailing from the UK is often compared to Alt.Country outfits like the Jayhawks or Wilco, but to me this is not fair. The Redlands Palamino Company is definitely producing tunes in the same genre, but their uniqueness in sound and origin does make the difference.

Hannah Elton Wall & her husband Alex Elton Wall are without doubt the tandem of this band. With Hannah providing crystalline fragile vocals on tunes like "Take Me Home" and Alex doing the opposite the twosome is the base for this band. But be not mistaken David Rothon, Jamie Langham and Rain are definitely necessary to complete sound of the band!

The fact that this band comes from the Uk is not an obstacle, to produce a fine blend of Americana and Alt.Country tunes. On Take me home, the band proves once more their craft for perfection. "Opener Wasted on you" is a very strong tune. Both musical as lyrical the song has a lot to offer. The story is full of reflections and how a man can forget about what he has at home! Looking at other girls, thinking about younger wives, forgetting that he is growing older as well, still having a beautiful girl waiting for him back home. "Burning it Down" is another gem full of reflections on what might have been. "Empty Feeling" deals with the loneliness of a lost love. "Take me Home", the title song of this album is about another feeling we all get once in a while! Homesickness. Not the kind you have when travelling, but the one you have at certain times when you realise that home is the place where you grew up as a youngster. When all the attractive things from the past are gone, this is the only place you'll want to return to! "She is yours" is the most appealing song on this album, but to be honest the vocals on this one are by nobody else then Gina Villalobos . "Pick Up, shut Up" is a fuzzed up, distortion infested tune that sounds so good, that I really hit the re-play button a couple of times. Alex his raw-dirty voice is excellent on this tune and fits so well that you'll think he hasn't done anything else during the past years.

As many of their tales are about lost loves, past lives and missed opportunities, this album is not exactly a joyful one. However listening to it doesn't make me sad either! Take Me Home is once more a great Alt.Country album full of cliché-free songs that set The Redlands Palamino company forever on the map as a great band!” 4/5 - Billybop, Belgium

Country rock as it ought to be

““If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is an adage that The Redlands Palomino Company have clearly taken to heart. Despite the occasional foray into unknown territory, of which more later, the UK’s best country-rockers have largely remained true to their tried and trusted template on their second full-length release. Composed of equal parts of Gram, Poco, Burritos and Byrds, its classic country-rock par excellence, never more so than on opener “Wasted On You”, all rolling rhythm, ace harmonies, sing-along chorus and all, and the jangling rocker “Coastline” that follows shortly after.

Hannah Elton-Wall contributes the bulk of the songs, and has developed into a writer of no little class, and the remainder of the band are a well-honed unit, with plenty of swagger and enough rough edges to keep it interesting. There’s no faceless Nashville-ness here, no by the numbers playing that is the hallmark of a lot of Brit country bands, no indeed. Instead there’s soul to spare, grit galore and plenty of punch in the delivery.

But back to those diversions. “Pick Up, Shut Up” has front man Alex Elton-Wall channelling Faces-era Rod Stewart, while the rest of the band do a passable imitation of Ronnie Lane et al. The betrayal of “Harbour Lights” is couched as a high and lonesome ballad, while “She Is Yours” metamorphoses from a fuzz-drenched country to a staccato power-pop finale and the final track is a stately orchestral reprise of “Take Me Home”, with Hannah intoning the desperate plea of the chorus into the fade.

But, good though these diversions are, they are exceptions to the overall rule, and that rule says that these guys do country rock better than anyone else in the land. Fine stuff.” 8/10 - Americana UK

"This band are exceptional" - Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2

"Probably the best Americana-Country album of 2007! And it's Made-In Britain!" - Maverick (4½/5)

"...a poised and magnificent album...Miss out on this at your peril." - Whisperin And Hollerin (9/10)

"...these guys do country rock better than anyone else in the land. Fine Stuff." - Americana-UK (8/10)

Average Customer Review: