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With a hand-picked posse of musical desperadoes alongside her, Sarah Vista creates a dark and dangerous country style that doffs the stetson to classic artists like Loretta Lynn, Nancy Sinatra, Nick Cave, Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash while also veering into spaghetti western territory. Her powerfully emotive vocals are the velvet glove but her truly original lyrics are the iron fist. Lee Powell from UK Rock & Roll magazine nailed it when he called Vista's music “a unique blend of Morricone-esque western soundtrack style sounds and brooding, blood-soaked balladry.”
All the best things come in threes and from the moment the trigger was pulled in 2016, the 7” singles ‘I Wish You Hell’, ‘Get Three Coffins Ready’ and ‘Killing Fever’ mowed down the competition. They kicked through the saloon doors of the dastardly music biz and shot out into the wide open plains so fast that record collectors were left scrambling in the dust like rummies in a bar-room brawl. A reissue of ‘I Wish You Hell’, with its Spanish-language cover and resplendent in blood red vinyl, eased the pain slightly but when Sarah Vista lets loose a release you have to act fast or suffer later.The live work continued, taking this unique sound out on the road and converting the unaware into true believers. The cynics and anyone who dared to doubt the Vista vision fell into the dust like corpses. Those that remained to sneer weakly could not survive the next blast as the debut long-player ‘Killing Fever’ did its damage in 2018. A dozen self-penned tracks carefully sliced into two distinct portions. The ‘country’ side is authentic and with a wistful edge that soothes the soul and lulls you into a false sense of security before the ‘western’ side, dark as a blood-stained blanket, unleashes tales of revenge, retribution and menace that send icy shivers down the spine.The notches on her gun pile up like bodies in a range war.
Front covers on the esteemed publications UK Rock & Roll and Mad Music For Bad People... Bang! All over Vintage Rock magazine like a heat rash... Boom! Ameripolitan Award for Honky Tonk Female 2020... in the saddlebag already and only a dead man would have doubted it! Even Wolfgang Doebeling of Germany’s Rolling Stone magazine got the message and awarded ‘Killing Fever’ top single of the year as he also gave the album a hard to achieve 4 stars in print. This set of releases on the Gallow Romantic label, in a dizzing array of formats, have also led to a host of international bookings in America, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Germany and beyond. For Sarah Vista... the trail never goes cold.
Even the dark clouds of corona couldn’t hold her back and ‘Sings Songs From The Silver Screen’ emerged late in 2020 to ease the damp brow of any critters aching from Vista fever. Ten songs from a wide range of horse operas get Sarah’s unique treatment. Sweet, haunting and menacing all at once. Her version of ‘Wandrin’ Star’ could bring Lee Marvin to his knees but ‘A Woman Like Me’ sends an icy shiver down the spine. Only a fool would question Sarah’s cinematic sincerity and her ‘Sunday Saloon’ videos show a genuine love for the western genre.Vengeance never sleeps and when this damned, dirty plague subsides Sarah Vista will be back on the road again. A second full-length album is also on the cards and a new selection of engaging songs with the sharp edge of a bowie knife are brewing quietly in a backwoods still. The fuse is lit on this new creation, the explosion is tantalisingly out of reach... for now. It’s a fistful of audio dynamite heading your way. The girl with gunsight eyes can’t be stopped.
Craig Brackenridge 2021
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