Obviously (well, obvious for those who can read Dutch) Hester Carvalho, hasn't noticed that Jeffrey-Paul Norlander isn't in the band anymore (and Steve Taylor is). And was Secret South released in 1999? The American band 16 Horsepower truly turns limitations into virtues. As singer David Eugene Edwards'voice rarely crosses the boundaries of a certain tone range, a change into a darker, lower tone, immediately creates a surprising turn in the music. Evident in last night's sold-out show was the change of direction towards slower rythms for their beautiful and typical 'desert songs' on Secret South, their latest album. Mostly absent, in contrast to earlier shows, were the festive bandoleon (sic) and the up-tempo country songs. Two guitars, played with bottlenecks by David Eugene Edwards and Jeffrey Paul Norlander, and a mandolin were the main ingredients in 16 Horsepower's sound. The lighting left the drummer and strings in the dark, almost suggesting the band is a trio; the rim of Norlander's hat covering his eyes, Pascal Humbert intimately embracing his contrabass, and Edwards playing intensely, hunched over his guitar like a snooker player over his cue. The ingenious combination of violin, organ and bottleneck and bass and mandolin creates a singeing extra layer above the music, almost like heat over the land. 16 Horsepower creates magic in their finest moments. Plus, this fits in seamlessly with the out-of-this-world-experiences David is full of, being a convinced Christian. But, although Edwards loves to speak of sin and repentance, it became evident yesterday that he is not 'holier than thou', smoking onstage and singing "I am an honest man, when I'm not lying" with a pokerface! Translation by Peter V.    
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