Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
On Sean Rowe's website you'll find a blog entitled Naturalisticism, complete with images of the singer peering out from a snow-cave on one of his 30-day wilderness treks. His songs speak every bit as powerfully of isolation, both enforced and self-imposed, and of the collected joys and pains of his life. His resonant baritone lends everything a moody edge but its heartfelt expressiveness is anything but dispiriting, the black-chocolate richness of his tone oddly comforting as it glides through sparse acoustic-folk ballads and bluesy soft-rockers alike. A mature, well-written 10-song collection from an artist to watch.
Single download: Jonathan
For those who like: Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison
- Jeff Harford
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Chiming chords, fuzzed-out solos and the occasional left-field texture ... it's another album from David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights, an outfit that, despite its laid-back delivery, is ready to roll with the slightest nuance. Subtlety is the strength of this 11-track collection. Sometimes it comes by way of a guitar accent on the second beat of the bar, the pitter-patter of a ride cymbal halfway through a track or vocals that drift like clouds.
Sometimes the light touches are more obvious, such as on acoustic instrumental Theme or the delicate, glistening lead lines of Purple Balloon, which, by closing the album, thus seals it off in a vacuum of warmth.
Single download: Diamond Mine
For those who like: The Go Betweens
- Shane Gilchrist
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
With the passing of Gary Moore, and the void left by Stevie Ray, the mantle of supreme executioner of white-boy blues is now Joe Bonamassa's. Wrenching blistering tone out of his Gibson-Marshall combination, Bonamassa has built a cult following for his dextrous painting of cinematic soundscapes within a blues-rock framework. His 10th album in as many years, Dust Bowl, is both spectacular and a mishmash of nearly-rans extending to country-tinged ditties and overblown arena sing-alongs.
His brilliance shines when he simply punishes the strings to wail like a banshee.
Single download: Slow Train
For those who like: Gary Moore, Tommy Bolin, Black Country Communion, Deep Purple.
- Mark Orton
