Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If you want revolution, if the idea of the start of an uprising in the hearts of a specific music genre is something that takes your fancy then Samantha Fish’s latest offering to the mass public is sure to be more wrecking than a person with a 1000 pound metal ball on the end of a crane in a scrap yard could ever hope to achieve. Black Wind Howlin’ cuts through the storms, slices past the obstacles placed in its way and heads over the Atlantic in a flurry of musical fury and the result is utter brilliance.

Following on from her 2011 debut Runaway, Samantha Fish doesn’t just raise the stakes of the music, she chases the nearest tornado, offers the sound as an offering to the titanic force of Mother Nature and laughs as the natural beast is subdued by a woman who makes Blues/Rock feel the most destructive and tantalising force on Earth. In the same mould as Britain’s Joanne Taylor Shaw and the excellent Dana Fuchs the music could take on almost anything it felt able to and still have enough left over in which to go for a re-match at any time of choosing. Subtle, dangerously addictive and undeniably restless, and as for the music – there is no room for compromise when something is as good as the sound of a Black Wind Howlin’.

It also takes a woman with an incredible self-belief and confidence in which to tackle anything the legendary Howlin’ Wolf created. What you could never accuse Ms. Fish of is shying away from a fight and she doesn’t just take on Howlin’ Wolf, she covers Who’s Been Talking so well that it’s possible to call it a credible draw. The album though is all Samantha, it is all about a woman taking on the established order and causing a sound to change and shift form. From the storm inducing Miles To Go, the fantastic and soul wrestling Go To Hell, the stomping Over You and the bold and sensational sound of Let’s Have Some Fun and Sucker Born all make sure that the so called difficult second album is no such thing, this is just a very talented woman beating the men at their own game and raising the standard higher than should be achievable.

If you want a revolution, make sure Samantha Fish is leading your army.

Black Wind Howlin’ is released via Ruf Records in September.

Ian D. Hall