High Stakes and Higher Style - Lil' Red & The Rooster Go All In on "Stack 'Em Up Baby"

Some blues songs ask you to listen. “Stack ‘Em Up Baby” demands that you lean in, sip something slow and savor every sly wink on offer.

With this richly textured new single, Lil’ Red & The Rooster lay down their cards. It’s blues, sure, but not as we typically package it. This is velvet-draped, slow-burning and piano-laced seduction. A midnight swagger that feels less like a track and more like a scene.

Listen here:

https://open.spotify.com/track/4PsBpI2Bwc2mnz5JmrQjSS

From the opening piano motif, played with just enough elegance to feel like candlelight flickering on whiskey glasses, you know you’re not in juke-joint territory.

This is cocktail blues with bite. Paris-meets-Chicago-meets-Columbus. Retro, yes - but not frozen in time.

The song’s slow groove simmers rather than sizzles with each instrumental texture breathing, flexing and flirting. And flirt it does. “Stack ‘Em Up Baby” is as much about vibe as it is about virtuosity.

Lil’ Red, aka Jen Milligan, leads with voice and verve, serving up vocals that are equal parts smoky lounge singer and backroom philosopher. She knows the weight of each syllable and delivers them with a glimmer of mischief that dances just below the surface.

Opposite her is Pascal Fouquet, the Rooster in the room, whose guitar work speaks in phrases of subtle wisdom.

Fouquet has a tasetful touch that is restrained and precise. He lets space do all the talking, with each note feathered in like brushstrokes in a noir painting. There is an almost conversational quality to the way he supports Lil' Red's vocals - two artists in dialogue here and teasing each other through their instruments.

But the ace in this particular hand is none other than Bobby Floyd on B3 organ and piano. Floyd - whose credits include Ray Charles, the Count Basie Orchestra, and Dr John - brings serious jazz pedigree to the table. His playing adds depth and elegance to the arrangement, evoking that sweet spot where blues and soul lean in to cinematic territory. Floyd's B3 hums like a warm engine in the background, while his piano sprinkles sugar on the rim. This is masterful stuff.

Lyrically, the song is steeped in metaphor. There’s card game imagery, sure, but it has more emotional strategy, romantic push-and-pull, and the thrill of letting someone close. Just close enough.

“Stack ‘Em Up Baby” is a seduction song, but it’s not obvious. There’s something classic in its innuendo, more Mae West than modern-day double entendre. And that’s exactly what makes it so refreshing.

Perhaps what’s most impressive about this release is how it feels so deliberate. It’s not chasing trends. It has an aesthetic which has been cultivated over years of live performance, study, listening and real connection. And that’s the secret sauce of Lil’ Red & The Rooster.

“Stack ‘Em Up Baby” is the first in a series of singles building toward their upcoming album "7", and if this track is any indicator, we’re in for a rich and rootsy journey. It signals a confident next chapter from a duo who clearly love the blues. And not just for its history, but for its ability to speak, sway, and surprise in the present.

With this latest single, Lil’ Red & The Rooster dress up the blues. It's grown up music with a youthful twinkle. And it reminds us that while the blues may start in heartache the best blues make you want to dance through it anyway.

Find out more about Lil' Red & The Rooster on their Website

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