CARLA DIRATZ & THE ARCHERS OF SORROW – BLUE STITCHES (Discus Music) (2024)

With the same band on board as “The Scale” (see separate review), I looked forward to listening to another album three years on.

Although all the essential ingredients are still there, this is a different kind of album. This time Diratz’s voice made me think more of an outré BETTY LAVETTE or a female TOM WAITS, part sung, part spoken with something to say that is not easy to hear - e.g. ‘Drops of Remembrance’: it is rooted in that dark genre, The Blues, you see; in fact, if pushed I would say it takes the blues, shakes it up and spits it out.

The Archers of Sorrow continue to be a class act and it’s a joy to hear them in full flow on the 10-minute plus ‘Places I’ve Been’; and also, on ‘Free Delivery’. On ‘A Peak at Night’ Diratz vocalises the night terrors urging us to ‘kill the fear’. On ‘I’m A Drifter’ she meets a rootless young man at a crossroads in his life. Listening to ‘I’ll Be Gone’ you might imagine yourself in a seedy late night jazz club.

Martin Archer’s own description of the album is a “left field take on the blues”, but it could be seen as parts prog, borderline jazz and even electronic in places. It’s a compelling listen whatever way you look at it.