I Am the Moon: III. The Fall

by Tedeschi Trucks Band

Overview

I Am the Moon: III. The Fall is the third in a projected series of four conceptually related, bi-monthly releases by Tedeschi Trucks Band in 2022. Each is accompanied by its own film from director Alix Lambert. It was informed by the epic, 12th century Persian love poem "The Story of Layla and Majnun" by Nizami Ganjavi, which also provided inspiration for the music on Derek and the Dominos' 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Discovering complex themes and storylines in the poem, I Am the Moon was written collaboratively, with band members contributing their own unique perspectives on the work. The Tedeschi Trucks Band sets its gaze on love's bittersweet dimensions on this third installment. Opener "Somehow" by Gabe Dixon and Tia Sellers is a wrangling blues-rocker driven by Trucks' signature slide guitar. Hammond B-3, Rhodes piano, horns, drums, and a backing chorus surround Susan Tedeschi's aching vocal -- "How many times will you walk away?/How many times is the price I pay too high?/How many times can you make me beg?/Look that way and wreck my head..." -- as the rootsy, blues-jazz mix underscores the emotional grain in her voice. No matter the cost, she affirms a commitment to follow it and the beloved wherever they go: "What strikes a match in a stranger's eye so bright?/Makes us want and makes us seek/The flicker of somebody's heat?/How can what should be wrong on paper/Be written in the heart so right?" "None Above," written by Tedeschi and Mike Mattison, is a brief, souled-out choogler that weighs the tensions between obsessive commitment and the potential for destruction it poses, all inside a pop melody worthy of vintage AM radio. "Yes We Will" is funky, greasy, and drenched in gospel dynamics. It swaggers and sways as its lyrics detail the trials and tribulations emerging in this world and the one to come. Tedeschi's and Trucks' guitar breaks are mean, lean, argumentative, and edgy atop a soul shuffle on the drum kit, doo wop backing chorus, and Dixon's chugging keys. "Gravity" was composed by Dixon and Oliver Wood. Saturated in funky, NOLA rhythm and blues, it owes a debt to Dixie Chicken-era Little Feat, with killer piano and lead vocals from Dixon amid strutting horns and biting slide guitar. Mattison's "Emmaline" is a midtempo romantic ballad offered an absent lover under the night sky in country-waltz time. Alecia Chakour's stunning backing vocals add depth and resonance. Closer "Take Me As I Am" is a love anthem sung by Tedeschi and Mark Rivers. Framed by sweet horns, a swaying backing chorus, and breakbeat drums, guitars, organ, and piano hover and float with painterly poignancy that send the set off on a celebratory note. While The Fall sticks closer to the blues, soul, and Americana roots aspects of TTB's sonic persona than did the earlier volumes, its searing honesty and inspired musical performances make this volume the finest in the series so far. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	07/29/2022
Label:	Concord / Fantasy
UPC:	0888072434448

Tracks

1. Somehow
2. None Above
3. Yes We Will
4. Gravity
5. Emmaline
6. Take Me as I Am

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Tedeschi Trucks Band   Primary Artist
Alecia Chakour   Vocals,Percussion
Paul Olsen   Guitar (Acoustic)
Brandon Boone   Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Baritone)
Adrian Jackson   Sousaphone
Isaac Eady   Drums,Percussion
Susan Tedeschi   Lead,Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Rhythm)
Derek Trucks   Horn,Lead,Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm)
Tyler Greenwell   Percussion,Drums
Marc Quinones   Congas,Percussion,Tambourine
Mark Rivers   Vocals
Mike Mattison   Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Ephraim Owens   Horn,Trumpet
Elizabeth Lea   Horn,Trombone
Kebbi Williams   Horn,Saxophone
Gabe Dixon   Horn,Piano,Vocals,Accordion,Harmonium,Mellotron,Glockenspiel,Organ (Hammond),Piano (Electric)

Technical Credits

Bobby Tis   Engineer,Recording,Mixing
Grant James   Cinematography
Daniel Bacigalupi   Mastering Assistant
Oliver Wasow   Artwork
Ryan Murphy   Instrument Technician
Marc Lowenstein   Producer
Alix Lambert   Direction
Jud Strickland   Sequencers
Lizzie Minges   Editing
Bradley Strickland   Cinematography,Mixing Assistant
Jimmy Ferguson   Cinematography
Susan Tedeschi   Composer
Derek Trucks   Composer,Producer,Horn Arrangements,Recording Producer
Mike Mattison   Composer
Ephraim Owens   Horn Arrangements
Pete Lyman   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Elizabeth Lea   Horn Arrangements
Kebbi Williams   Horn Arrangements
Oliver Wood   Composer
Tia Sillers   Composer
Gabe Dixon   Composer,Horn Arrangements