You can’t teach authenticity. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. Sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell — better known as Larkin Poe — have long shown themselves to be the genuine article, travelling from their bluegrass roots through to a potent infusion of country and rock ‘n’ roll across five albums.
Now, with their sixth, they dig their heels in for their strongest body of work so far. ‘Bloom’ is an album all about introspection and personal growth, marrying heartfelt ballads such as You Are The River with spitting stompers in Bluephoria.
It feels like a whiskey-soaked stroll past the bars of Nashville and, as we have come to expect from the duo, the performances are spectacular.
Megan’s harmonies are lush while her lap steel brings a southern grit to proceedings, while Rebecca reaffirms her position as a powerhouse vocalist in modern Americana, turning in some of her strongest, smokiest performances to date, particularly on Mockingbird and Little Bit.
And even when ‘Bloom’ stumbles awkwardly into key changes and clichés on Easy Love Pt. 2 and Nowhere Fast, it is buoyed once more by the fantastic, bluesy beast If God Is A Woman and the brooding Pearls. It all culminates in the tender Bloom Again, closing the album with one final emotional punch while underlining the range the Lovell sisters possess.
On the whole, ‘Bloom’ is a new, potentially defining, chapter for Larkin Poe, even if it does nothing new. Instead, it distills all that’s great about roots rock to produce a dram worth savouring.
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