Our latest Tracks Of The Week extravaganza was a titanic battle, with French multi-instrumentalist-turned-rock-ace Lucie Sue triumphing over lead Strut Luke Spiller by the slimmest of margins. Buckcherry's new song came in third, but really, it was the LS versus LS battle that took the breath away. So congratulations to both.
This week, just like every other, we've found another eight songs to titillate your ear sockets. Our super-sized selection of supreme sonic splendour is below.
When Rivers Meet - Break Free
One of those deceptively straight-shooting blues rockers that gets juicier and more interesting by the beat, Break Free packs a lot into its three-and-a-half-minute runtime. With guitarist Aaron Bond taking lead vocals, it finds the husband n’ wife duo rolling from bluesy opening riffage into a deeper, meatier chorus and spaced-out spirals – all of it fleshed out with rich 70s-tastic organ layers and the voice of singer (and violinist/mandolinist) Grace soaring over the top of it all. Nice.
Mark Morton Come December (feat Charlie Starr & Jason Isbell)
The Lamb Of God guitarist is joined by Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr on vocals, with Jason Isbell delivering a stunning slide guitar solo, on this beautiful ballad from his new solo album Without The Pain. Oh, and Morton’s no slouch either, processing his demons with melodious tenderness in stirring verses and a highly singable chorus. The whole record is stuffed with quality rootsified rock voices (Tyler Bryant, Neil Fallon and Jaren Johnston are just three collaborators), but this might be our favourite union. 21st century southern rock of real class.
Joe Bonamassa - Still Walking With Me
Just when you thought he couldn’t spin any more plates without having some sort of cardiac arrest (in addition to tours, producing other artists, Black Country Communion plans, Rory Gallagher-tribute-in-Ireland plans, cruises, festivals, more tours…) Joe drops a new taste of his upcoming solo album. Billed as “an uplifting tribute to resilience, redemption, and the people who stick with us even when we don’t deserve it”, Still Walking With Me is a sunshiney, feelgood affair, all classic soulful blues with a generous spring in its step. He makes it look easy, in a good way.
The Blue Stones - Happy Cry
With its parent album, Metro, centred on a protagonist navigating a dystopian subway (capturing “a personified version of their darker side” in the process) – and justified comparisons to Royal Blood abounding – you’d expect this Canadian duo’s new single to be a blackened, gritty affair. It is, sort of, but it’s also imbued with raw, cathartic feeling; bluesy and industrial in one sense, heartbreaking yet hopeful in another. Like the tentatively optimistic light at the end of a dark, apocalyptic tunnel.
The Darkness - Hot On My Tail
We’ll be honest: we didn’t know that we needed a country ode to post-coital flatulence in our lives. Enter The Darkness, here to prove that we actually do need such a song with the enchantingly sweet, silly, immaculately executed Hot On My Tail – all acoustic strums, gauzy harmonies and bittersweet melodic twists in all the right places. And lyrics about farting. Think Queen with cowboy boots, ELO and Monty Python hovering close by, and you’re in the right ballpark.
Matt C White - The Way Down
Matt C White grew up in rural North Carolina on a diet of Soundgarden, Mastodon and Mars Volta tunes. You can totally hear all that in the riffy, bonged out textures of The Way Down. It kicks off on a heavy stoner note, all head-swirling guitars and slinky bassline, but it’s that groovy beefcake of a chorus that really grabs you. The overall effect is kind of All Them Witches-esque, but rawer and spikier – less ayahuasca luxe, more jamming in your garage with a few fat joints, a stack of grunge and 60s psych records and a giant amp stack.
Hollow Souls feat. Jared James Nichols - Borderline
Good old Kris Barras, he of the Kris Barras Band, has a new project. Hollow Souls describe themselves as "an exciting new musical collective", and see Barras returning to the blues-rock template of his earliest work, with former KBB backing vocalist Phoebe Jane lighting a fire up front and US blueser Jared James Nichols burning rubber on the solo. “I have really admired Jared’s playing for some time," says Barras. "His contribution to this song is massive, we gave him creative license to play whatever he wanted. I am so stoked with the results.” Catch 'em live in the UK this winter.
California Irish - Big Question
Good old Cormac Neeson, he of Irish rockers The Answer, also has a new project. California Irish describe themselves as having a "psychedelic folk-rock sound", and Big Question has a relaxed vibe indeed, conjuring up images of poolside parties at hip Laurel Canyon addresses, with spliffs passed around loon-panted attendees and free love in the air. The band's debut album, The Mountains Are My Friends, is out in May. "This album is the opposite of boring AI-generated no soul perfection," boasts Neeson. "We recorded this album in a room together over four days, allowing the music to breathe when it needed to, looking at each other for our cues and feeding off each other’s energy. It felt like a dream… but it’s the most real thing I’ve ever done in music."
