Reviews roundup – Cairo vs. Whitney Rose vs. Pale Honey vs. Vuur

Reviews roundup – Cairo vs. Whitney Rose vs. Pale Honey vs. Vuur

 

CAIRO
Say
Right Honourable Records

It seemed odd when Rob Cottingham left Touchstone. After all it was his band. But he’s back with a new outfit on this debut offering.

And it’s not that dissimilar from Touchstone so it couldn’t have been musical differences that prompted his departure. He himself admits to looking for “evolution” so fans of his old band will find themselves in comfortable territory here. As before he writes the songs, he’s brought in a female vocalist to sing them – Rachel Hill – and prog all rounder John Mitchell is there to help with the production. Which is why quoting Mr Mitchell on the promo blurb amused me no end!

So lots of melodic prog with some spoken word intros and some turns into the world of the epic. All is well in the world of Rob Cottingham on splendid tunes like ‘The Shadow’s Return’ and ‘Nothing To Prove’. It’s a top quality prog release that his old fans will take to heart.

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WHITNEY ROSE
Rule 62
Six Shooter Records

Some country music now. And it’s proper country music as well. None of that pop malarkey with a fiddle buried way down in the mix.

And it’s Canadian born Whitney Rose who is serving up a country treat here on the follow up to her EP “South Texas Suite” which got some very good reviews earlier in the year. On this one she’s still working with Niko Bolas and Raul Malo from the Mavericks is back along with Mavericks drummer Paul Deakin and Jayhawks keyboard player Jen Gunderman. So it goes without saying that it sounds really, really good.

But that would be nothing if the songs weren’t up it, and they most definitely are. With a lovely voice and melodies to set them off, songs like ‘You Don’t Scare Me’, Can’t Stop Shakin’ and ‘Trucker’s Funeral’ are the kind of songs that should be on country radio. They probably won’t, mind, so you’ll have to get your fingers do some work on that there internet if you want to hear and buy. You won’t regret it because this is as good as country music gets these days.

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PALE HONEY
Devotion
Bolero

A minimalistic rock guitar-drum duo from Gothernburg. Sweden that is, rather than the pub in Prestonpans.

Album number two from Tuva Lodmark and Nelly Daltrey sees them carrying on in the garagey indie style that got what’s left of the inkie press all in a lather the first time around. But then they do like things that hark back to the nineties when most of them were still young and had some hope that life would turn out OK. Of course life doesn’t turn out OK. It ends in death. And sometimes it comes around a lot quicker than you would expect.

While that’s going on Pale Honey are singing about OCD and the perils of having hit their twenties. Jesus. To be fair the guitar lines are quite good and when they get some spacey swoosh on as they do on ‘Get These Things Out of My Head’ their drone of a sound can be quite effective. it generally works best when they slow things down as the faster tunes have a tendency to dissolve into noise but ‘777 (Devotion Pt. 2)’ shows a side of them that holds out a lot of hope for their musical future.

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VUUR
In This Moment We Are Free – Cities
Inside Out

What a crashing disappointment.

I liked the Gathering. I thought The Gentle Storm album was great so had high hopes for the latest project from Anneke van Giersbergen. But this is dire.

Unlike her previous bands and collaborations she seems to have decided to go full on metal. And that’s a mistake. See I like metal but this just does not work. And that’s largely down to the songs which are forgettable.

In amongst the noise her voice goes missing a lot of the time while Ferry Duijens and Jord Otto (guitars), Johan van Stratum (bass) and the Ed Warby (drummer) clatter away on songs like ‘The Fire’, ‘Days Go By’ and ‘Sail Away’. The only three songs you’ll want to hear again. And even then, not too often. It’s a real shame as I had high hopes for this but I suspect this will be the only time we hear from Vuur.

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