The Blues Bytes site has been in existence for nearly 30 years. The original format of having both a Pick Hit and a Surprise selection was that the latter would focus on some totally unexpected album that caught our reviewers by surprise.

I love it the most when I find some totally unknown album that just blows me away. Last year it was Angelique Francis' Not Defeated, which ended the calendar year as my favorite album of the 2025 blues season.

I've now come across another obscure album that will undoubtedly rank among the best of 2026 in Tell The Devil (Little Town Sound) from New Orleans group Royal & Toulouse. I've listened to the eight cuts on this album repeatedly, digging it a little more each time.

Full disclosure, this album may have had its release date in 2025, but the files just arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago. So for now, I'm calling it a 2026 release and reviewing it as if it's brand new because I want our Blues Bytes readers to know about it.

Royal & Toulouse describe their music as southern grit with a modern edge, but that understates that amount and quality of the blues weaved into their sound. I'm especially fond of the singing of lead vocalist Milyn Satterfield Little, a solid blend of both old school and new school. She also wrote six of the eight songs on Tell The Devil.

The name of the group comes from the New Orleans street corner on which Milyn would sing for tips, and the music sounds like what would come out of a dive bar in the French Quarter. Backing Milyn on the album are Ricky Little (bass), Christian Herring (guitar), Seth Rosenbloom (guitar), Matthew Dutot Slocum (keys), and three drummers in Joseph Cangelosi, Alex Troughton, and Les Nuby.

The album opener, "Money," begins with eerie vocals and funky guitar, leading into a slow, mysterious number. Milyn sings about the evils of money, with lines like, "...money, power running things..." and asking whatever happened to humanity. It's a powerful song and an apt introduction to what follows.

The title cut is a mid-tempo funky tune, on which Milyn requests that someone on their way to hell should tell the devil she says hello, adding that she'll see your curse and raise it ten.

Perhaps the most thought-provoking song on Tell The Devil is the up-tempo blues/rock, "Rosie Said," an effective tribute to women's empowerment. Herring lays down an effective blues guitar solo and Christine Ohlman provides backing vocals.

Anther topical number is Milyn's cry for unity, "I See One Thing," with the powerful message coming from the lines, "...Let's get together, everybody get together with me..." and "...I see one thing, you see another, that don't mean we can't get together ..."

She's looking for respite on the slow blues, "Resting Place," and that man comes running with the comfort she's never known. "Ain't Nothin' You Can Do" is a mid-tempo blues infused with a gospel feel, delivered with power in Milyn's vocals and accentuated by the piano work of Slocum. The message here is to put the past behind and make the best of it every day.

The mood changes as the band gets funky on the up-tempo "Best Leave Me Alone," as Milyn tells that other person not to try to get her. Herring provides plenty of snaky guitar fills throughout.

Closing the album is a wonderfully slow and gentle version of the George Gershwin standard, "Summertime," with tasteful late night piano work from Lawrence Sieberth. The more cynical among us may question why the music world needs still another version of this well-worn classic, but Milyn will counter any critiques with the subtle emotion she puts into her vocals.

Regardless of in what year Tell The Devil was released, it ranks as one of the best. It's well worth the repeated listening you're going to give it once these eight wonderful songs hit your CD player, streaming device, or hard drive.

--- Bill Mitchell