Saint Hilda's Faithless Boy

"New Zealand's Darren Watson has crafted a beautiful album in 'Saint Hilda's Faithless Boy', a set of backward-looking (but by no means retro) blues recorded with a bracing, contemporary sonic treatment. Watson pops his guitar strings like Johnny 'Guitar' Watson on "She Got It All", mines soulful, Robert Cray territory on "Love Is An Ocean", and channels Howlin' Wolf in full, stomping intensity on "A Desperate Man". Dig the swampy roots-rocker "He Don't Love You", the serpentine "The Bitter Suite", and the acoustic slide reading of "My Love Will Never Die" - leagues from Otis Rush's original stylistically, right there emotionally. Watson's hearty vocal approach sounds utterly honest. The supporting cast is superb."
- Blues Revue (USA)

For Saint Hilda's Faithless Boy, Darren Watson has returned to his core business - the blues - with a clutch of classy original songs and the hottest band in the land. Drummer Richard Te One and keyboardist Alan Norman had both worked with Watson in Smokeshop, while bass player Elliotte Fuiamaono (Southside Of Bombay) featured on South Pacific Soul. Watson wrote all the songs but one, a bold acoustic reading of the Willie Dixon/Otis Rush classic "My Love Will Never Die". The rest range from shuffles to funk grooves, urban blues to country-soul. There's even an instrumental with a hint of Weimar cabaret. But it is all infused with Watson's deep feeling for the blues.