Bonham-Bullick
(Quarto Valley Records)
8.5/10
By Paul Davies

In what can be described as similar to unearthing a Dead Sea Scrolls album’s worth of music, collected here are Bonham & Bullick’s interpretations of lesser covered and discovered songs that capture the raison d’etre of covering other artists' songs: doing them differently from the original. Being faithful isn’t always interesting! This judicious selection of rock, soul, and blues tunes forms the bedrock for Deborah and Peter to reveal their joined-up chemistry on record as they have been doing for a considerable amount of time in concert. Produced by Deborah Bonham, it could be said that leading from the front on vocals and production, this truly is her coming of age album. The smouldering epic take on Mark Lanegan’s bluesy lament, Bleeding Muddy Water, with the band all playing their parts to outstanding effect, is one of the stand-out songs. However, there are more than a few rivals staking a claim to this status on this eponymously titled exquisite record. Elsewhere, Bullick excels on guitar duties, betraying his Free and Rory Gallagher influences, as he plucks out Kossoff inspired licks on I Don’t Why, the haunting Trouble Blues, and N'Awlins maestro Allen Toussaint’s What Did I Do Wrong?

On songs I’ll Get Along and It Ain’t Easy, this is an album where Deborah Bonham stands tall and sings shoulder to shoulder with her fellow luminaries such as Maggie Bell. Her entrancing, mature vocal delivery beautifully interprets the essence of these songs. As its song title suggests, album closer, The Changeling, appositely wraps up this recording's newly polished mutation of lesser and reasonably known shapeshifting songs by these simpatico artists.