“A finely crafted homage to the classic country duos such as Cash and Carter, or Jones and Wynette. All songs written by King and Dalgleish and many sounding like lost classics.” The Guardian
It is a sweet irony that in Country Music, the joining of two voices in harmony should so often be used to sing about disharmony. Yet it is that contradiction which draws us to this music. The timeless themes of the classic country duets have now been revived and revisited by My Darling Clementine, the husband and wife duo of Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish.
King, the former leader of U.K. Alt Country pioneers The Good Sons (who MOJO dubbed “England’s very own Uncle Tupelo…”,) is widely seen as one of Britain’s finest singer songwriters, with 10 albums and countless tours, both solo and with the likes of Nick Cave, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Roger McGuinn to his credit. Collaborations with Chris Hillman, Ron Sexsmith and the legendary Townes Van Zandt (who cut his own version of Michael’s song Riding The Range), have further enhanced his burgeoning reputation.
Dalgleish is one of the finest female singers in the UK; who has been praised by, and worked with the likes of Elvis Costello, Bryan Ferry, The Brodsky Quartet, Sophie B Hawkins and many more. From 1993 – 2000 she released 4 albums that showed off her unique song styling as well as her stunning vocals.
Both King and Dalgleish are no strangers to successful, independent music careers but after 10 years of marriage, the two have just now turned their attention towards a joint project. The result is “How Do You Plead?”, an album that has taken the Country / Americana world by storm. It has garnered incredible critical acclaim, the debut single,100,000 Words became a BBC Radio 2 hit, and the band and album went on to win awards on both sides of the Atlantic.
The new album, “The Reconciliation” was recording at the renowned Sheffield studio, Yellow Arch and produced by Colin Elliot (Richard Hawley, Duane Eddy, Kylie,) It features all of Hawley's band on it, plus added horns and fiddle, as well as Michael’s right hand man for many years, the pedal steel maestro, Al Cook.
Special appearances too from Kinky Freidman and The Brodsky Quartet will see this new album even more revered than the debut
"13 all-new duets that carry the sting of authentic country classics. Just wonderful!"
UnCut **** 4/5
Every song could be mistaken for a classic Nashville standard. You could easily imagine it topping the country charts in the ‘50s or ‘60s." Americana-UK ******** 8/10
There are songs here George and Tammy would have wanted to record. Quite simply - the greatest ever country album recorded by a British artist, and that includes Elvis Costello
Country Music People." *****5/5
"These tales of love and loss sound like forgotten country classics." **** 4/5 The Sun
“How Do You Plead?” - the most exquisitely pained American country albums of the year comes from this British couple." New York Daily News
“A baker’s dozen of originals that sound like they came straight out of the June/Johnny-Emmylou/Gram-Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood catalogs. This is as authentic as anything out of Nashville or Texas..A batch of superb C&W corkers.” American Songwriter 4 out of 5
“You would swear blind this albums cuts are lifted straight from the pages of some long-lost country songbook.” BBC on-line music reviews
