Trixie Whitley is the daughter of guitarist and cult artist Chris Whitley, who died in 2005. Commuting between her two homelands Belgium and America, she started her career in 2008 with two EPs and solo performances in small clubs. The delay in her debut album had everything to do with her joining Black Dub, the group around Daniel Lanois, who released an album in 2010. The expectations around Fourth
… Corner were therefore high. Whitley is a real power singer, influenced by soul, gospel and blues. The continuous supple melodiousness of her voice sometimes gets in the way of the fragile and personally intended repertoire. Important is the production of Thomas Bartlett (The National, Antony & The Johnsons) who opted for a bare sound in which unwieldy syncopated rhythms and dirty, bluesy guitars dominate. Yet it does not want to sound really deep or swampy anywhere, but rather makes it sound thoughtful. Fourth Corner is certainly a strong and mature debut, but the intended depth does not always come into its own. (MR)more
