2012’s Night Life album was as good as it was going to get for the brand of blues that Danny Bryant had spent a decade building. Just into his thirties, Bryant needed a fresh challenge.
Last year’s Hurricane took a blues rock direction that Temperature Rising continues. Bryant’s always had an ear for a riff and some of them beef up well, particularly the sharp Best Of Me and the title track. Bryant’s habit of wrapping his guitar playing around his vocals keeps the songs concise, even on slow grinding ballads like Take Me Higher.
But if Bryant wants to make serious inroads into the blues rock scene he’ll need to up his lyrical game, or find himself a good wordsmith. And there are signs that he’s out-growing his trio format. Producer Richard Hammerton regularly adds keyboards and although they’re low in the mix the nod should be as good as a wink.
