It's a rare thing to hear an album this compelling, this harrowing, this enjoyable, in this day and age when so much of what is fed to us is sanitised and sugar-coated. Subtitled The Murder Ballads Album, World Without End raises the ghosts of 10 long-dead victims of predjuice, false pride and interracial pain. Though these songs ring with the truth of the ages, they are in fact new songs written by Frank and Murray. Each one is based on a true incident that inspired their authors, as they felt that so many of the traditional murder ballads had been recorded many times in the past.
The end result is a dance with the dead, a seance of lost souls, a slow waltz with the dark side of human nature. If that sounds like something you’d sooner avoid, then stop and listen with an open mind. The music here is subtle and seductive – American Music Club luminary Tim Mooney produces, and allows the textures of each song to sit behind the voices.
Each of the songs comes with a date, ranging from 1796 (with ‘Madeline’, a tale of a 16-year-old murdered by the wife of a supposed lover) through to ‘Tupelo, Mississippi’, set in 1936, wherein the narrator tells of racist murder and lost redemption. These are the anthems of the anti-hero, songs of division that resonate right through to these troubled times.
Bod Frank, now in his 60s, released a solo album back in 1972 on the Vanguard label, only to quit the music business shortly after until his return with a Jim Dickinson-produced set in 2002. John Murray is half Frank’s age and has played with numerous bands on the Americana scene, including The Dillingers and Lucero.
The duo are playing at this year's Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots Weekend and will also be supporting label mates Richmond Fontaine in Europe.
Try and listen to this album beforehand, and live in a world without end.