Sue Foley’s stinging blues always turned heads, most notably Clifford Antone’s, who enticed the Ottawa songwriter down to Austin in the Nineties. The guitarist digs deep into those roots on The Ice Queen, assembling a cadre of A-list local licks that include her annual Jungle Show bandmates Jimmie Vaughan, Charlie Sexton, Mike Flanigin, Chris Layton, and the jungle maestro himself, li’l ol’ Billy Gibbons. Foley’s 11th album thus delivers a stylistic master class of her genre, leaning in easy on opener “Come to Me” and shifting gears with the dark bruise of “81.” The ZZ Top frontman’s vocal grit pairs perfectly against Foley’s sharp bite on “Fool’s Gold,” but the duets pale in comparison to her stunning vocals on soul render “If I Have Forsaken You,” romping ragtime “Send Me to the ‘Lectric Chair,” bittersweet sway “Death of a Dream,” and the title track’s traditional cold blues punch. The Ice Queen is on fire.
This article appears in February 23 • 2018.
