Home-made rock and roll with blissful dashes of Americana and superb songwriting every step of the way – this is an album built to embrace and be embraced in times of struggle.
Country Rock
A chaotically whirling Western tune, designed to get those knees up and the whole crowd dancing – lost entirely in the raw energy of the performance – Been Bad For Me is a uniquely impressive blend of country-rock and blues that’s quick to leave its mark.
Brilliant music, refreshing songwriting in a timeless style. A beautiful pair of songs that are well worth knowing about this lock-down – particularly for those who feel so far away from their loved ones.
Tuneful, accomplished and thoroughly beautifully sung, it’s a traditional tale of regret, loss and repentance.
The tight arrangement has zero slack and we are swept along this tuneful, bombastic country road with some abandon. Fun!
Richard Schroder excels himself with this single. Beginning with that ever-professional, crisp & organic country sound, We All Start Somewhere progresses to captivate brilliantly, with detailed, fresh story-telling, and a fine balance between scene-setting & emotional honesty.
Patriotism and love, family and service, gratitude and longing all mashed together without a sleigh bell in sight!
Battle Ready is a slow-burning track that sneaks up on you as you listen through. There’s a dark narrative lurking behind the beauty of the arrangement. Tuneful and tastefully produced, that all makes it classic country, in a nutshell!
The leading vocal is notably accessible, that boy-next-door tone intrigues during the verses, then peaks with superb passion and vibrancy for the chorus, and meanwhile the instrumentation continues to weave an upbeat and musically satisfying web around listeners.
There is no question of a lead vocal performance being copied and pasted into position here, the variety of takes between the repeated patterns is as organic and fresh as you like, giving the song a living, beating heart to focus on. Smooth.
Americana in a reasonably gentle set of colours here (despite the subject matter), as Josef McManus’ White Owl Red sets out its stall with a careful political agenda: ‘Just tryin’ to make things a little better’. A rolling and tuneful backing track lends authentic support to the softly-sung thoughts about the undisputed horrors caused by … Continued
In a timeless production that feels simultaneously classic and contemporary, there are plenty of hooks in the melody and backing vocal arrangement to make the insistent motifs memorable.