Bywater Call- Bywater Call review

Bywater Call Bywater Call Gypsy Soul Records BywaterCall.com

Produced by Darcy Yates and Renan Yildizdogan, Bywater Call blasts out of the Toronto soul-rock-blues scene with an incredible debut, self-titled album.

Meghan Parnell holds down the front with sultry, rich, and smooth lead vocals. “Bring Me Down,” a yearn-some jam further propelled by Dave Barnes’ guitars and the rhythm section of Bruce McCarthy (drums) and Mike Meusel (bass), is one of several standout numbers (“Walk On By” another) on which Parnell shines. She has a stellar voice.

Up-tempo tunes abound, “Talking Backwards,” “Forgive,” and “Over and Over” among them, ideal for bringing some warmth to this winter. Keyboardist Alan Zemattis is well-utilized, both on the jumping tunes and on cooler pieces such as “Silver Lining,” “Hometown,” and “Nightmare,” while the horn section of Stephen Dyte (trumpet) and Julian Nalli (saxophones) is prominent in the arrangements.

For a band so obviously blessed with incredible musicianship, no shortcuts were taken with the vocal presentation. Adding considerable soulful depth, amazing backing vocals are featured throughout from Chantal Williams and Carleigh Aikins. Delta Sugar-types Samantha Martin, Stacie Tabb, and Sherie Marshall are featured on the explosive opener “Arizona” and “Silver Lining.”

The southern soul-rock hybrid revue-alignment has been working for lots of folk these past few years, and Bywater Call appears poised to give it a good run. A very good debut recording from an outfit with tremendous promise.