Release Date: 12th
February 2016
Label: Wind-Up
At their height, Aunt Mary were “up there” with the likes
of Deep Purple, Ten Years After, King Crimson, Jethro Tull and many more. After
the release of Janus in 1973, the
band split up but did a few sporadic appearances, as well as releasing the
blues covers album mentioned earlier.
3 years ago, the Norwegian guitar legend and producer,
who was also a devoted Aunt Mary fan, Ronni Le Tekro, persuaded the original
line-up of Aunt Mary back into the studio. This didn’t last long, and a spate
of resignations for a variety of reasons, including health issues, would
ultimately result in the band replacing 3 of the original members. The 3 years
to the release of the album, New Dawn,
was filled with periods of musical joy and profound grief, as 2 of the 3
originals to leave the band passed away. Now in 2016, we have the band made up
of Bjorn Kristiansen (guitars), Bernt Bodal (bass), Glenn Lyse (vocals),
Henning Ramseth/Ola Aanje (keyboards) and Ole Tom Torjussen (drums).
New
Dawn
is an 11 track album with a total playing time of around 42 minutes. All the
tracks are relatively short with the 5:13 minute, track 8, “Blind Date,” being
the longest on offer and the final track, “Don’t Keep Me Waiting,” being the
shortest at 2:46 minutes.
The opening track, “Slave Parade” (3:49) takes no
prisoners from the start, as it just grabs you by the ears and shouts “listen!”
Heavy, thumping chords lead into a “chug-a-long” beat with the powerful voice
of Glenn Lyse towering over everything. This is an opening track that ensures
that you are awake for the 10 tracks that follow. It is very catchy and
highlights the driving guitar of Bjorn Kristiansen.
Arriving next is a smoother melodic offering in the form
of “Unconditional Love” (3:35), which is followed by “ Hopelessly Lost” (3:11),
“Happily Ever After” (4:53) and “G Flat Road” (4:13) which in turn are riff
laden, bluesy (with an amazing sampled sound ending) and then driving guitar
with echo on the vocals.
“I Was Born To Ride On The Wrong Side” (3:16) reminds me,
style-wise, of the Ramones, with the band thundering along, hardly taking time
to breathe and the gutsy vocals gamely keeping pace with the band.
Next up is a gentler, acoustic based ballad which shows
another side of Aunt Mary, “Open Your Eyes” (4:57), although Glenn does let his
powerful voice “off the leash” as the song progresses. This is a standout track
by virtue of being so different, and sits very comfortable in the middle
section of this album.
The longest track, “Blind Date” (5:13) has a real air of
confidence in its style and you could almost say that the track swaggers along.
This is followed by another slight change to the more bluesy feel with “Been
There, Done That” (3:07), which has a memorable, if short, harmonica passage.
This is the blues done with some style.
The penultimate track, “Soldadero” (3:25) is an
atmospheric, building track, which is very melodic with an orchestral tinge to
it. There are points when the acoustic guitar hints at a Clint Eastwood
Spaghetti Western style soundtrack. This is another track that exemplifies the
breadth of the new Aunt Mary and leads into the album closer, “Don’t Keep Me
Waiting” (2:46).
This last track is very different with light guitar
riffs, stunning drumming and harmonious vocals. A short 2:46 minutes means that
it enters, entertains and exits, forming a perfect ending to New Dawn.
New
Dawn
is an excellent album of rock and blues music, which I found extremely
refreshing, although I think that it is fair to say they must have hung up
their prog hats at the door of the studios. The range of styles across the
tracks shows the skills of the band members and I hope that the traumatic
events during the bands return to recording are soon replaced by the plaudits
the new album should attract.
My very simple advice with New Dawn is to go out, buy it, play it, and I’m sure you will be
humming bits of tracks as soon as it is finished, and at that point you should
hit the play button again.
5/5
Stars
Key
Tracks: Slave Parade, I Was Born To Ride On The Wrong Side, Been There Done
That
Tracks:
01. Slave Parade
02. Unconditional Love
03. Hopelessly Lost
04. Happily Ever After
05. G Flat Road
06. I Was Born To Ride On The Wrong Side
07. Open Your Eyes
08. Blind Date
09. Been There, Done That
10. Soldadera
11. Don’t Keep Me Waiting
Tracks:
01. Slave Parade
02. Unconditional Love
03. Hopelessly Lost
04. Happily Ever After
05. G Flat Road
06. I Was Born To Ride On The Wrong Side
07. Open Your Eyes
08. Blind Date
09. Been There, Done That
10. Soldadera
11. Don’t Keep Me Waiting
February 24, 2016
Review
Provided By Write A Music Review
