A Look Forward to 2023

The year has started slowly for new music but there is a lot on the horizon to look forward to - Firstly albums I know are due:

• Petrichor - The Lost Trades (March)
• The Fell - Snow Ghosts (February)
• Lost Animals - Jenny Colquitt (February)
• Black Bay - Silver Moth (April)
• Elevation - John Reed (October)
• Broken Spells - Jo Beth Young (TBC)
• Anno 1696 - Insomnium (February)

Also I've slowly started gigs for this year but it's looking fairly quiet at the moment:

• Pale Blue Eyes - Exeter Cavern (February)
• The Lost Trades - Exeter Phoenix (March)
• Jo Beth Young - St Mary's Church, Totnes (May)
• Molly Hatchet - Exeter Phoenix (July)

Hopefully there will be some reviews to come soon!

Final review of 2022 and it's the big one - Best albums.

Now I didn't think there would be another good enough year where I could revert to a top ten but this year surpassed expectations with the quality of new music.

So in alphabetical order

• The Blackheart Orchestra - Hotel Utopia
• Josienne Clarke -  Now & Then EP
• Crippled Black Phoenix - Banefyre
• Hekla - Xiuxiuejar
• Indignu - Adeus
• Marillion - An Hour Before It's Dark
• Mortem - Slow Death
• Nerina Pallot - I Don't Know What I'm Doing 
• Emily Scott Robinson - Built on Bones EP
• A.A. Williams - As the Moon Rests

Most years it isn't possible to choose one album above the others but this year I can - and it is As The Moon Rests, the latest masterpiece from A.A. Williams 

 

First part of my 2022 review and let's start with my favourite half dozen stand alone singles - in alphabetical order:

• The Anchoress - Bizarre Love Triangle
• Jenny Colquitt - Soldier of the Modern Day
• Alex Henry Foster - Power of the Heart
• Maer - Sister
• Placebo - Shout
• Jo Beth Young - BRIGID

And my favourite gigs were:

Abrasive Trees at the Bread & Roses in Plymouth

Sulpher at the Cavern in Exeter

The double header of All Living Fear and Inkubus Sukkubus also at the Cavern

 Last review of the year and it's a short one..... 

As The Moon Rests by A.A. Williams - The review is you should/must own this album

One word constantly comes to mind when listening to this - SWOON

It's heavier than the last album Forever Blue but achingly beautiful and full of emotional longing. From the opening torch song of  Hollow Heart to the epic closing title track this is just a stunning album.

 

 First EP review of the year (and maybe not the last).... Built on Bones by Emily Scott Robinson is the story of Macbeth told from the three witches' perspective. 

It's an intriguing concept and with only six songs, very ambitious.

This is American Gothic writ large and based around some stunning three-part harmonies. Massive credit must go to Emily, Alisa Amador & Violet Bell for some of the best vocals I've heard this year.

The highlight is Double, Double which is the retelling of the famous witches' spell from the play. It's dark, sensual and menacing with beautiful sultry harmonies and ferocious blues guitar.

Some of the other tracks such as Men & Moon veer towards a more traditional country sound but are never predictable or safe.

For an EP it fits in a lot and not a minute is wasted. I would also recommend seeing the video for Double, Double which dials the gothic influence up to 11 and is visually perfect for the song.

An absolute certainty to be one of my albums of the year

The Blackheart Orchestra was a name I was familiar with via Prog magazine but not enough to fully investigate further so this time I thought I would give the new album a try.

Turns out I’d should have taken a chance earlier because Hotel Utopia is a fantastic album. For just a duo the sound they make is quite immense.

Under the Headlights was the first single and as good a representation as you need. The chorus just screams out to be played on commercial radio, as catchy as hell. Then, to change the pace a short-spoken word sample which leads on to section that I swear was lifted from an unreleased Hounds of Love track.

It has to be said that the spirit of Ms Bush does linger heavily in places – Safe wouldn’t be too out of place in one of her earlier eclectic albums

The chorus to The Warning is quite bonkers, “You, Me and the Holy Ghost and we all laugh like we get the joke” but again it just hooks you in.

With all the catchy pop there is also maybe a hint of Roxette to be found with the songs which is no bad thing.

Astronaut is the most straightforward rock song here while the closing epic 9 minute long The Flood gives the band plenty of space to musically indulge especially with a great guitar solo.

I probably should have given the band a chance earlier, but this is a great introduction so time to look deeper into the back catalogue

 A Crippled Black Phoenix album is always difficult to approach. The issue is you never get the same line up twice, apart from the ever-constant Justin Greaves.

This means albums ranged from some of my all-time favourites (I, Vigilante) to those that are just OK (Bronze)   

It’s a big old album of over 90 minutes with only 13 songs but it appears Banefyre is in the former category.

The opening track, Incantation for the Different, should immediately put off the casual listener consisting of a monologue about witches and Satan!

Ghostland with its ominous chanting and slow drumbeats sounds downright pagan and likely to summon the dead which I guess is the point  

The slow burning epic Blackout77 shows the best of Crippled Black Phoenix - full of brooding atmosphere, samples and pummeling drums.

Even the fairground organ from the earliest albums makes a brief return.

With three tracks exceeding 10 minutes there is plenty of time to indulge instrumentally and whilst sonically different, the shadow of Pink Floyd still hovers as large as it has ever done over this band. 

Put aside some time and indulge yourself in one of their best albums.