Hummin’bird Records/CRS

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This latest album from singer-songwriter Grey DeLisle is a constantly surprising work, drawing inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. Poignant and compelling, the record is also her most personal, with themes of leaving and moving on, inspired in part by Grey’s recent divorce. It is, however, an engaging album that evokes the spirit of a seminal sound. Brimming with poetry, humour, intelligence, and human experience that invites contemplation, excavation, imagination, it mines the sensory experience of being human. She magnificently crafts exceptionally well-written sing-alongs that are infused with raw and universal emotion. They make you feel less alone, more ‘got.’ The glory of great writing is the way it can make those age-old experiences resonate like new, or present under-represented perspectives in ways that connect with a listener. 

Though the subject matter of the songs is heavy, the music itself is colourful and fun, tinged with folk and country, and reflecting her interest in lush, catchy sounds. Belief can be found all over DON’T TURN AROUND. It’s what makes it cohesive, despite the eclectic mix of instrumentation and genre styles. She’s let a few well-known collaborators into the mix including special guests Dave Alvin and Mandy Barnett, alongside acclaimed musicians Deke Dickerson, Chris Scruggs, Mickey Raphael, Greg Leisz, Tammy Rogers, Bernie Dresel, Murry Hammond, Stephen McCarthy and engineer Jake Gideon, who blend their skill with subtlety, negating the flash while still retaining a flourish and finesse. Clarity and expertise shine through, without cause to grandstand or any attempt at outshining one another. 

There are no weighty concepts at work, but lots of heavy playing on a batch of songs that go down easy. Built on sturdy rhythms, beguiling twists and turns, and a vocal hook that won’t soon leave you, Don’t Turn Around, is the best of its kind since those Brill Building pop classics of the early 1960s. Framed by a breathtaking string arrangement out of the Burt Bacharach or Carole King heyday, as if the temporal debt of this song weren’t already clear enough. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore! In direct contrast is the plaintive Everyday Of The Week Ends In Why, a 1950s-styled country tearjerker that could be right out of the Kitty Wells’ back catalogue. Grey’s vocal floats over a bed of pedal steel and strings that drift spaciously into a blue funk that mimics a woman’s loneliness and hope. 

The theme of love and loss is also evident in There’s The Door, an answer song to George Jones’ the Grand Tour, from the woman’s perspective. It opens with bright steel licks as the lyrics take on a sharper edge when you realise what Grey has been through in the last few years. She brings her sultry vocals to a duet with Dave Alvin on You’re Driving Me Away. With the wonderful Mexicali-flavours of trumpet, accordion, maracas and castanets, you can easily imagine sliding, twirling, and gliding across a dancefloor with a romantic partner, completely oblivious to the heartbreaking lyrics. It’s not all depressing, though: Drive Away is all about a brief escapade. Disneyland is the album’s most optimistic song, in which the narrator is falling for someone so hard despite it being an imaginary relationship. Each of these offerings reflect the ebullience and enthusiasm Grey DeLisle brings to her music, leaving little doubt as to the dedication and devotion she has for making music. In that regard, this album reflects a singular style spun from down-home passions—earnest, engaging and rooted in actual country and folk tradition. 

https://greydelislegriffin.com

November 2026