Singer/songwriter/guitarist Rob Quo grew up in rural England, and now lives and works as a folk/blues musician in London. He’s collected a set of five songs for his December 2020 EP release Rule of Three.
Rule of Three was recorded as a trio. Quo played acoustic guitar and sang. Sam Crooks played double bass with Gus White on drums. Crooks and White both helped out with backing vocals. White covered the engineering, production and mixing as well. Quo proudly states that it was “three days in the studio with one set-up and all tunes tracked live.” He should be proud--they’ve captured a sound that is present. With this instrumentation, the sound is not in-your-face, the record makes you feel like they’re right in your room, channeling the emotion of the songs just for your ears. “To Be Easy” kicks off the set. It’s an uptempo, folky number that cooks right along. There’s great interplay between Quo’s guitar and Crooks’ melodic bass with White’s drums filling the space out nicely. The sound is full and vibrant, and all from an unamplified three-piece. Producers, take note! You don’t need that seventh synth-and-shaker overdub to make your track sound full. Just get yourself some good players, record them correctly and mix it right, as they’ve done here. The choice to record live really shines, too, as the band reins the tempo in and later picks it back up naturally. And that’s only the first cut. “Ain’t It Sad” takes a slight country turn, as White breaks out his brushes for the snare pattern and Crooks lays down some nice bits of walking bass. Up top, they feature tight three-part vocal harmonie with a hint of George Harrison on the chorus. That’s two winners right off the bat for Quo and team. The other full-band tune “Keep Your Distance” is similarly well-done. The other two cuts feature less instrumentation. “Now You Know” is just Quo and Crooks. Crooks’ playing style incorporates enough rhythmic thump (and the occasional string buzz) to cover the needed percussion. On the instrumental outro, Quo also takes a more rhythmic approach to his guitar playing, which was very well done and sounded terrific in conjunction with Crooks’ lines. The final track “Four Seasons” is a solo ballad for Quo. He sings “we like to think of four seasons / for every lap around the sun / but recently I’ve lost my bearing / it’s like four seasons blurring to one.” The immediacy of the recording is just perfect: you can hear his fingers on the fretboard, and the rustle of the chair as he moves with the music. The notes aren’t all perfect and polished; instead, he’s sitting right here, and exposing this raw truth just for you. Wow. Rule of Three is the first of several five-song sets that Quo has planned. The stripped-back, roots-y vibe worked great for this round of material. I look forward to hearing what he brings for the next set.
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