It’s not every day that a song can break you with barren simplicity. The latest release from Melodies International — the Floating Points-led reissue label that takes listeners on soulful, retrospective journeys across the globe — shines a light on the mournful sounds of Bobby Wright.
“Blood of an American” carries the wise, perceptive tone of socially-minded artists of the 70’s; the song was originally recorded in 1974 on a prized 7-inch. Wright’s quiet struggle of making ends meat with his band between taxi driving shifts, and earth-shattering grief after the loss of his bandmate in the Vietnam War, forms the core of a ballad that’s emotive and funky in the right places. With just a reverberating guitar, dotted bass line and wounded voice, Wright’s tale of loss shines with a resilient glow in the moonlight.
“Blood of an American” is a treasured composition that truly makes the personal political.
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