The Brooklyn-based Little Mystery is slated to release one of my most anticipated albums of the summer a month from today. “Shame,” the third single from the set, sounds how I imagine T. Rex would if Chrissie Hynde had been the electric warrior, not Marc Bolan. A dirty guitar riff and bluesy beat kicks things off, with Ivy Meissner’s emotive vocals propelling the lyrics about a traumatic incident from long ago to center stage: “Like any woman/I was told to hold my pain close/oh, I made it mine/would the hurt blind my mind?” Hold tight for the guitar solo just past the two-minute mark that channels her anger and rage and note, once it’s done, how the soundscape shifts as if tectonic plates settling into place.
Meissner, who also plays guitar, is backed by a crack band that includes Adam Brisbin on guitar, Connor Parks on drums, Ian Davis on bass, and Julian Cubillos on various instruments; Meissner and Cubillos co-produced. The song also features a brass section (Levon Henry on sax, Kalia Vandever on trombone and Linton Smith II on trumpet) that adds color to the song’s closing section.
As with the previous singles, “Eye of the Storm” and “Burning Blue,” the song can be streamed from the usual suspects; together, the three songs showcase the forthcoming album’s stylistic variety and lyrical depth. It can be pre-ordered from Bandcamp.
The Old Grey Cat 
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