It might have originally been out in 2014, but this is a record that you need to hear right now
One of the reasons MV has always loved boxing is that it gave people who had, for whatever reason, fallen on the wrong side of the tracks or made some mistakes.
Evidently rootsy folk music has the same healing qualities. Certainly, that’s what happened in the case of Levi Cuss.
The Alberta resident had a hard life. His dad died when he was five. He spent his teens and early 20s drinking, doing drugs and doing crime. And eventually doing time. Whilst such things make the rest of us reflect, perhaps on how lucky we are, there’s maybe one thing we can’t do. Channel these experiences into such a wonderful record as “Night Thief”.
Turning his life around with music and the love of a good woman, “…Thief” is his second record and features 12 songs – 11 original and a cover of JJ Cale’s “Bring It Back (which is perfect for the mood here anyway).
It is an album of rare poetry and rare poetry, there are occasions when these are not so much songs as literary verses set to Americana music. And bleak words they are too.
“Red City River” describes a scene as “dangerous as barbiturates and sneaky as cocaine”, “Cut My Teeth” casts him as being “sick of this goddamn town” and the Lap Steel drenched “Pills” is a harrowing tale, which sees Cuss more or less talk the listener through the story and concede “she likes Oxy more than me….”
If those are the first three songs, then the rest offer no respite – but crucially no let-up in class either. “Tecumseh” follows the murder ballad tradition, yet seeks no forgiveness for the crimes of the character involved, and the bluesy “Saturday Night” positively revels in its small town frustrations, while “Murder Of Crows” – which sounds like something Mark Knopfler might do in his recent output – comes with some brilliant organ work.
Cuss has a way of approaching things that few others would contemplate. “Grandma” is a personal and poignant account of a lady that was “shaking it with two guys” and hated “female country singers.”
Working with renowned producer and musician Steve Dawson has helped Cuss come up with something that is both musically varied and lyrically interesting, “Divide” finds a new angle on the love gone bad motif, and the incredible laid back soul of “Dark Horse” is a skilful other side, and there’s a blackness about the acoustic and bass driven “Utumbo” that sums up the vibe of the whole record.
Originally released in 2014 in his native Canada, it is emerging in the UK now to coincide with tour dates this spring. If you didn’t get it then, then get it now, because whether you beg, borrow or steal it, then “Night Thief” is an original and frequently challenging work that you need to hear. Indeed, to torture the boxing analogy at the start just a little bit further, it is a real knockout of a record.
Rating 8.5/10
