Tora

Many have drawn the link between the blues of the American south and the ‘blues’ of the Balkans. GRAIU takes the analogy a touch too literally, blending traditional Romanian doina singing with African-American field hollers in an album that is by turns totally rocking and, alas, a bit cringey.

The focus is on Alina-Carmen Ciolcă's full-throated, deep and expressive vocals that blend marvellously rendered Romanian traditional singing full of beguiling ornamentation, trills and vibrato with rock-style crooning à la Janis Joplin and Robert Plant. The band says they got their best Romanian feedback for the American blues songs. However, I would wager that the songs which most strike the fancy of non-Romanian listeners will be the more typically Romanian tracks, which constitute the majority here. My main criticism is reserved for the English-language blues songs. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that, as an American, I grew up with blues and gospel-inflected rock, so this offers nothing new. Plus, Ciolcă's handling of the African-American idiom seems a bit clichéd and over the top at times. Having said that, if one concentrates on the Romanian songs alone, there is enough there to blow one away. The juxtaposition of Romanian peasant-style vocals, potent guitar riffs and traditional percussion is off the wall. Chapeau.