Review: Ruby Amanfu – Standing Still

It takes a confident artist to reimagine and repurpose an album full of other artists’ works. Yet, Ruby Amanfu’s recent album Standing Still is an inspired interpretation of covers by popular artists from the last half-century, from Bob Dylan to Kanye West. If you were to create a playlist of the original versions of the songs that Ruby so vulnerably renders, it would make for the most introspective walk down the annals of American folk and rock music. The Ghanaian-born and Nashville-bred singer and songwriter has spent a lifetime perfecting her musical craft and as a result has reaped the benefit of a steady career in the music industry. Early in her career as a youth she joined the Nashville Symphony and years later made a major splash with the Sam & Ruby album The Here And The Now. Her collaboration with Jack White for his solo debut saw the rise of Amanfu’s star as an in-demand session and tour singer. However, now is truly her time as a featured artist having spent five days in a Tennessee log cabin where the ultimate cypher was nurtured to record the album she says felt like a dream to create.

Standing Still opens with a gut-wrenching rendition of the Irma Thomas classic “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” with a Hawaiian luau undercurrent that fully complements the song’s explosive ending. What follows is a bluesy version of Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s “Where You Going” adding a much welcomed authority, and Richard Hawley’s “As The Dawn Breaks” which has a piercing depth in the delivery by the songbird of lyrics about a songbird’s melody. “Shadow On The Wall” conveys the kind of feisty grit that Brandi Carlile would surely sign off on, while Ruby gives a whispery performance of the pop hit “Out At Sea” by Heartless Bastards. “Cathedrals” by Jump Little Children and “Street Lights” by Kanye West are fairly melancholy, pondering the social ills of society and the unfairness of life, really making you feel how slow the album is. Bob Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet” shows Amanfu’s vocal prowess and restraint, yet, like the other tunes, it really showcases the cohesiveness of the musicianship during the recording session. “One By One” is the last cover of the album and does justice to the Billy Bragg & Wilco contemporary folk hit with its Joe Cocker “With A Little Help From My Friends” Woodstock roots. The album ends with the only original tune scribed by Ruby Amanfu entitled “I Tried”, a yearning ballad that characterizes the soul of the full body of work, embodying what it truly must have felt like to record in that Tennessee log cabin.

 
Written by Mai Perkins

Originally from Los Angeles, Mai Perkins is living a genuine bona fide love affair with NYC and the music that keeps its spirit moving. While spending the majority of the last decade in Brooklyn, many of her adventures around the globe are documented on her blog: Mai On The Move! www.MaiOnTheMove.com

 
Author’s rating for Standing Still

Pop Magazine’s official rating for Standing Still

Rating key
MASTERPIECE a must-have
SUPERB for heavy rotation
EXCELLENT a great achievement
VERY GOOD a respectable result
GOOD worth checking out
FAIR an average outcome
WEAK not convincing stuff
BAD an underwhelming effort
VERY BAD quite a waste
FAIL a total failure