# Sing the Delta

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{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Iris DeMent
| type       = studio
| artist     = [Iris DeMent](/source/Iris_DeMent)
| cover      = Iris_DeMent_-_Sing_The_Delta.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = October 2, 2012<ref>{{cite web|title=Iris DeMent Official Website|url=http://www.irisdement.com/|publisher=Iris DeMent}}</ref>
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [Country](/source/Country_music), [gospel](/source/gospel_music)<ref name=TG/>
| length     =
| label      = Flariella
| producer   =
| prev_title = [Lifeline](/source/Lifeline_(Iris_DeMent_album))
| prev_year  = 2004
| next_title = [The Trackless Woods](/source/The_Trackless_Woods)
| next_year  = 2015
}}

'''''Sing The Delta''''' is the fifth album by country and folk singer, [Iris DeMent](/source/Iris_DeMent). The album, released on October 2, 2012, via Flariella Records, comprises DeMent's first original material in sixteen years.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Schneider|first=Marc|title=Iris DeMent to 'Sing the Delta,' First New Music in 16 Years|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/482506/iris-dement-to-sing-the-delta-first-new-music-in-16-years|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=July 24, 2012}}</ref>

==Background==
The album's material has strong ties to DeMent's upbringing. According to DeMent, ''Sing the Delta'' is a reference to the [Arkansas Delta](/source/Arkansas_Delta), a natural region in the State of Arkansas and where her family lives. She says of the title track: "And that was that part of the country, the Arkansas Delta. ... A lot of what I had stamped on me — musically, Sunday-dinner-wise, religion and everything else — was a direct outgrowth of that."<ref>{{cite web|title='Singing Is Praying' For Iris DeMent|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/10/28/163560263/singing-is-praying-for-iris-dementhttp://|publisher=NPR Music|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref>

Commenting on the sixteen-year wait between new material, DeMent has stated in an interview that she has come to terms with the fact she doesn't write new songs very often. "I finally made peace with that. It took me a long time, but I finally have fully accepted I’m not in charge of that. So I just made the decision to live my life."<ref>{{cite web|title=Infamous Angel: A Q&A With Iris DeMent|url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2012/10/infamous-angel-a-qa-with-iris-dement/|publisher=2012 American Songwriter, LLC |accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref> In another interview, when asked what she had been doing in the sixteen years since her previous album, she quipped "I painted the living room a lot of different colors."<ref>{{cite news|title=Iris DeMent, Sing The Delta, album review|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/cdreviews/9672736/Iris-DeMent-Sing-The-Delta-album-review.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|accessdate=November 23, 2012|location=London|first=Martin|last=Chilton|date=November 12, 2012}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| MC = 83/100<ref>{{cite web|title=Sing the Delta, Iris DeMent|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/sing-the-delta/iris-dement/critic-reviews|publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref>
| rev1 = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Sing the Delta|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sing-the-delta-mw0002410603|website=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Album review: Iris DeMent, 'Sing the Delta'|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/10/01/album-review-iris-dement-sing-the-delta/|newspaper=[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)|access-date=November 23, 2012|date=October 1, 2012}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=TG>{{cite news|title=Iris DeMent: Sing the Delta – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/nov/01/iris-dement-sing-delta-review|newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|accessdate=November 23, 2012|location=London|first=Robin|last=Denselow|date=November 1, 2012}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[Mojo](/source/Mojo_(magazine))''
| rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>This is real person-to-person music. [Jan 2013, p.95]</ref>
| rev5 = ''[MSN Music](/source/MSN_Music)'' ([Expert Witness](/source/Robert_Christgau))
| rev5score = A−<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/ew2012-10.php |title=Iris Dement/Carolyn Mark |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=2012-10-05 |website=[MSN Music](/source/MSN_Music) |access-date=2018-07-10}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[PopMatters](/source/PopMatters)''
| rev6Score = 8/10<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Iris DeMent: Sing the Delta|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/163750-iris-dement-sing-the-delta/|magazine=[PopMatters](/source/PopMatters)|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)''
| rev7Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Iris DeMent: Sing the Delta|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sing-the-delta-20121019|magazine=[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[Slant Magazine](/source/Slant_Magazine)''
| rev8Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Iris DeMent: Sing the Delta|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/iris-dement-sing-the-delta/2913|magazine=[Slant Magazine](/source/Slant_Magazine)|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[The Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)''
| rev9Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Iris DeMent, Sing The Delta, album review|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/cdreviews/9672736/Iris-DeMent-Sing-The-Delta-album-review.html|newspaper=[The Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)|accessdate=November 23, 2012|location=London|first=Martin|last=Chilton|date=November 12, 2012}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[Uncut](/source/Uncut_(magazine))''
| rev10score = 9/10<ref>A startling, inspirational comeback. [Dec 2012, p.68]</ref>
}}
''Sing the Delta'' has largely received a positive response. ''[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)'' notes: "...these artisanal songs of love and doubt wear their homeliness proudly; the effect is like finding a bountiful farm stand in the middle of nowhere."<ref>{{cite magazine|title='Iris Dement Album Review|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sing-the-delta-20121019|magazine=Rolling Stone|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref> Stuart Munro from ''[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe)'' calls the album:" a work of rare, unvarnished grace and power".<ref>{{cite news|title=Iris Dement Sing the Delta|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2012/10/01/review-iris-dement-sing-delta/kU3AfYIton4TwTByTZgYnK/story.html|newspaper=Boston Globe|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref> The UK's ''The Guardian'' newspaper wrote that the album:"sounds as powerful and timeless as anything she has done". In addition, the review praised the quality of DeMent's songwriting.<ref>{{cite news|title=Iris DeMent Sing the Delta review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/nov/01/iris-dement-sing-delta-review|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=November 23, 2012|location=London|first=Robin|last=Denselow|date=November 1, 2012}}</ref>

AllMusic praised DeMent's voice, saying: "She's a careful, detailed songwriter with a confessional edge and a good sense of narrative, and her voice is a marvelous instrument that seems to rise out of the previous century". The review does, however, suggests that ''Sing the Delta'' is not an album that one can often sing along to.<ref>{{cite web|title=Iris Dement Sing the Delta|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sing-the-delta-mw0002410603|website=AllMusic|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref> In another glowing review, ''[Slant Magazine](/source/Slant_Magazine)''{{'}}s Jonothan Keefe writes: "DeMent's fully invested performances are lived-in and soulful, heightening the intensity of the experiences she's singing about. Over the course of ''Sing the Delta'', DeMent confesses, wails, and testifies, and there's simply no one else in popular music who tells their truths with such urgency or clarity."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Iris DeMent Sing the Delta|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/iris-dement-sing-the-delta/2913|magazine=Slant Magazine|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref>

==Track listing==
#"Go On Ahead and Go Home"
#"Before the Colors Fade"
#"The Kingdom Has Already Come"
#"The Night I Learned How Not to Pray"
#"Sing the Delta"
#"If That Ain't Love"
#"Livin' On the Inside"
#"Makin' My Way Back Home"
#"Mornin' Glory"
#"There's a Whole Lotta Heaven"
#"Mama Was Always Tellin' Her Truth"
#"Out of the Fire"

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Iris DeMent}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:2012 albums
Category:Iris DeMent albums

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sing the Delta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing_the_Delta) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing_the_Delta?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.