Delaney Davidson - Bad Luck Man (2011)

New Zealand songwriter Delaney Davidson seems to draw much of his inspiration from misery and tragedy. In the style of the American folk/blues tradition, Davidson tackles heartbreak and woe with the zeal of a man who might find the reaper an agreeable companion. And while his new record Bad Luck Man is, like his past work, rooted in the American South, this time around Davidson found his dread revelations no further away than his front door. Though the singer lives in Switzerland and spends much of his time on the road, the recent earthquake in his home town of Christchurch inspired much of his new material.
And while it’s difficult to parse out just which songs were inspired by what – the overall theme of Bad Luck Man is such that any one of these tunes could be ascribed to a tragedy. Country guitar and theremin inflected “River of Misery” seems to be about a girl, and the hopelessness of its cause seems to be summed up in the line “there are always two answers / and both of them are no.” Similarly “Windy City” and “You’re a Loser,” speak of relationship woes. The latter seems particularly gut wrenching as its Dear John message of “you’re a loser / and your losing me,” hits like a vicious sucker-punch.