Rhiannon Giddens – They’re Calling Me Home
They’re Calling Me Home is timeless, and simultaneously very much of the times. Recorded in just six days by Rhiannon Giddens and her partner Francesco Turrisi in the midst of lockdown, the collection of originals and traditional tunes creates a beautiful impression of yearning. Themes of wistfulness and, well, being called home ring true. Perhaps most obviously on “Waterbound,” Giddens sings, “Waterbound, and I can’t get home, down to North Carolina,” driving home the difficulty the pair and their children must have felt while recording in Ireland, their adopted home. The ex-pat life is already a hefty decision when the ability to visit home often is still a possibility – the pandemic rendering travel impossible, the album reads as a nostalgic lament and simultaneously a soothing mechanism – music, as we all know, can be transportive, and often the quickest route to recreating the feeling of being at home.
The woven interplay of trad songs and originals roots and engages the listener – which is which?, an unstudied ear might ask. Rhiannon’s ethereal vocals, often accompanied by only a single other instrument, are accompanied by a variety of both universal and distinctive folk instruments – from bagpipe to banjo. Turrisi’s almost painterly, cinematic percussion, particularly his frame drum playing, evokes emotions and serve to highlight the tenderness and potency of each song.
From the opening title track, Rhiannon’s harmonies induce chills. Lullaby-like, she reveals her Operatic vocal training, singing sweetly over gentle Spanish guitar on “Si Dolce è’l Tormento.” “I Shall Not Be Moved,” the hymn and later civil rights anthem, is particularly powerful and moving, and in this instance, quite literal. “Black as Crow” is a moving, traditional-sounding original, Irish flute and British isles-style singing adding to that homesickness. Their rendition of “When I was in my Prime” is particularly moving, with Giddens adding banjo and viola to provide warmth and texture.
The non-vocal tracks; interloud “Niwel Goes to Town” features the hypnotic guitar playing of Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu, and later an Irish flute instrumental, “Bully For You;” are beautiful breathers. Turrisi joins Giddens’ harmonies on the penultimate “Manna, Manna,” and to close, Giddens hums “Amazing Grace,” again accompanied simply by bag pipes.
They’re Calling Me Home is brilliant from every perspective – emotionally, textually, and sonically. Blending elements from Irish, Indian, Italian, Spanish, Central African, and most prominently, American folk music, Giddens’ work reminds us that, as Louis Armstrong said, “All music is folk music.”
