Broken Lands

For their second release on Vanguard, Indigenous display a striking command of modern blues rock. Although they started as a family band on the Nakota reservation in South Dakota, Indigenous has over the last few years become the province of the sole original remaining member, Mato Nanji. The blues community has always known about Nanji's stellar blues guitar playing--which some critics have compared to Stevie Ray Vaughn's--but on BROKEN LANDS, Nanji expands his arsenal to include deeply expressive singing and concise, hooky songwriting as well. Many of the songs were co-written with his wife, Leah--who also contributes gospel-inflected backing vocals that give each track extra punch--and concern strife both emotional and political, such as on the gripping anti-poverty anthem "Place I Know". Producer Jamie Candiloro lends the album a no-frills directness and warmth that highlight Nanji's many strengths as a millenial bluesman.|