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Friday, April 3, 2009

Review: The Westerners - Beautiful Departed


The Westerners - Beautiful Departed
2009, West Arts


Los Angeles based folk/pop/Americana outfit The Westerners wrote and recorded Beautiful Departed in memory of guitarist Joe West's daughter. West and vocalist LaDon Drummond form the heart and soul of The Westerners, employing elements of jazz, pop and ambient musical forms to create a melancholy tribute streaked with veins of joy, sorrow, anger and resignation. Beautiful melodies are couched in steady, rhythmic musical arrangements that draw on world elements and unusual instrumentation schemes. Beautiful Departed covers the darker and lighter elements of memories of a loved one lost.

There are highs and lows here, but they are more emotional than musical. This is a project that you really need to listen to all the way through. If you've lost someone dear to you then you will find much here to treasure. If you're blessed enough to never have experienced such a loss, Beautiful Departed won't have the same impact on you. This is a cathartic album, perhaps, and can be a tough listen for the emotional weight that it carries, but is quite well done.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The Westerners at www.myspace.com/thewesternersusa.com or http://www.thewesternersusa.com/. You can purchase Beautiful Departed at their website (using PayPal) or at CDUniverse.
When not singing, you can also catch LaDon Drummond in reruns of The Practice, Any Day Now and Days Of Our Lives.

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