Although his prevalence on our playlists isn’t exactly what it used to be, longtime KUTX listeners know that historically our airwaves were all about Alejandro Escovedo. Aside from his ongoing bromance with KUTX host Jody Denberg, this San Antonio native has continued to represent a Central Texas sound across Austin, Dallas, and beyond, leaving an idiosyncratic imprint on pretty much anything he touches. And that of course includes his many collaborations, the latest of which teams Escovedo up with another accomplished sonic confederate, NYC native Diane Gentile.
Picking up where Lucinda Williams, David Bowie, and The Rolling Stones left off, Diane and The Gentle Men made their merry retro-informed studio debut with a pair of singles in 2016, an EP in 2019, and their debut LP The White Sea shortly after COVID swallowed everything. Well, coming up in about a month and a half, Diane and The Gentle Men make their triumphant return with a help of a few friends on The Bad and the Beautiful.
True to the ensemble-esque title, The Bad and the Beautiful sees Diane and The Gentle Men joining forces with the likes of James Maddock, Jesse Malin, and as you’ve probably already guessed, Al Escovedo. At ten tracks, The Bad and the Beautiful boasts ample space for Gentile to tinker around with the three-act structure and arrange these near and dear stories in a way that’s meaningful, both as individual “scenes” and in its entirety, sating her Shakespearean tastes. Sonically, Diane and The Gentle Men gave us a sneak peak ahead of The Bad and the Beautiful‘s release on September 15th with the album opener “Walk With Me” – a harmony-hinged heartland-rock-meets-mercurial-Americana-punk duet with Escovedo – though we’ve learned there’ll also be explorations into folk-rock and maybe even disco as well. We guarantee you Escovedo’s not taking a trot in this Texas heat, so instead shine some streams for Al, Diane, and The Gentle Men with the synergistic stroll that is “Walk With Me”.