A few times in my miserable life I've tried to listen to Bonnie Raitt and failed miserably. Why? She seems so predictable and soulless to me (and struggling to get an albums worth of great songs together at any one time doesn't help either).
"Roll Me Out" is, to my ears, what Bonnie Raitt has been after all along. A big rock band (well, it's only a trio, but it does sound big in full flight) with Mia's understated blues licks holding it all together. And this is Mia Dyson's greatest gift - knowing how to undersell a song. If she was a male with an over-inflated sense of self-importance - more on Eric Clapton in a minute - she'd be prone to flashy touches of wankery and manage to drown out any subtlety whatsoever.
Thankfully she isn't Eric Clapton!

Don't start me on a bitter rant about how white men with NO SOUL have managed to practically destroy the blues to within an inch of cabaret - at least that's how it looked until recently - thankfully the latest batch of roots-based artists (anyone from The Black Keys on down) seem to share my belief that Eric Clapton is THE WORST THING that has happened to music in the last 50 years (I also have a soft spot for Bono and Yngwie Malmsteen in that regard...). Copying the blues takes more than ripping off a chord progression and starting a song "woke up this morning...'. It takes a feel for the music - something you can't fake with ANOTHER pointless guitar solo to fade. Ah hell - I told you not to start me...

The wobbly organ sound, the (seemingly clumsy) one note solos, the soaring backing vocals - a lot of these songs smack of Dylanisms of the highest order - and it's such a nice change to hear it finally being done well. "I Meant Something To You Once" is a stunner in this regard - and would slot in perfectly on one of Dylan's 70s albums - a big gospel belter that gives me chills.

It hits all the right cliches when needed (the fade out on the title track is a perfect example with it's 'I'm coming on home to you' refrain) and throws up enough surprises ("Choose" which is what "Sweet Jane" would sound like in a parallel universe) to be utterly engaging throughout.

For those of you to which the blues is nothing more than a musical disgrace, this just may be the album to have you re-thinking...