ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS HAVE TEAMED UP on Raise The Roof, an album of collaborations that echoes the style of their 2007 smash, Raising Sand. Recorded in Nashville and produced, as before, by Americana maestro T Bone Burnett, it’s an entrancing mix of blues, country, folk and rock’n’roll, with the voices of the Led Zeppelin legend and bluegrass superstar entwining beautifully. Raise The Roof is released on November 19 by Rounder.
The pair discuss the long road to their reunion, and their odd couple appeal, in a world exclusive interview in the latest MOJO magazine, which appears on UK newsstands on Tuesday, August 17, but is available online now.
“The good thing with Alison and I is that we’re a couple of kindred spirits,” Plant tells MOJO’s Andrew Perry. “We were ready to do something new, and we knew how good it was before, so we can just join up again and see where we go. We’ve got nothing to lose.”
In the in-depth cover feature, Plant and Krauss examine their shared affinity with the songs they’ve covered on *Raise The Roof – including material by Calexico, Betty Harris and mystery 1930s blueswoman Geeshie Wylie – and their collaborative chemistry, once described by MOJO’s Sylvie Simmons as “so gentle, attentive and respectfully intimate, it feels like a courtship dance”.
“Robert’s singing is the epitome of freedom and spontaneity,” Krauss tells MOJO, “and I’m pretty regimented, but there’s a romance in contrast.”
The pair also collaborate on the covermount CD that comes with this month’s MOJO magazine, selecting tracks by themselves, The Everly Brothers, Ralph Stanley, Low, Bobby Parker, Louvin Brothers, Bert Jansch and more.
You can hear their recording of Can’t Let Go, from Raise The Roof, here: https://plantkrauss.lnk.to/CantLetGo.
Also in this month’s MOJO magazine: Bob Dylan’s ’80s redeemed; inside the Aretha Franklin biopic; The War On Drugs return. Plus: Jack White, Faust, Lindsey Buckingham, Low, Wanda Jackson, Public Service Broadcasting, Brinsley Schwarz, Courtney Barnett, Van Der Graaf Generator, XTC, Dusty Hill, Faces reunion rumours, Robert Fripp & Toyah, and the worst festival ever!
