Liverpool’s piece The Heavy North released their debut album ‘Electric Soul Machine’ for Record Store Day in April this year. Recorded at guitarist Jose Ibanez’s 3rd Planet Recording Studio, the album has been featured on Tim Burgess’ Twitter Listening Party.
‘Electric Soul Machine’ is available from their website https://theheavynorth.bigcartel.com/
In short, ‘Electric Soul Machine’ is an album of great guitar solos. They’re everywhere! Former single ‘Darkness In Your Eyes’ sees the dream of Jack White joining The Black Keys to create blistering bluesy riffs alongside Clapton’s soulful vocals from the Cream era. Cream feature heavenly in the solo as the psychedelic darkness descends. Ibanez and Jack Birch’s guitars create a tornado of haze that could set fire to ice. ‘Awake’, another former single, evokes memories of Kasabian circa ‘West Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ and Noel Gallagher’s greatest choruses with its great key change. Ibanez and Birch cruise like Santana until the solo where they tap into Neil Young at his escapist best. It allows frontman Kenny Stuart to toy with his cadence, which delivers both soul and west coast moments of joy.
Even on ‘The Genie’ and ‘She Gets Me higher’ where their slightly laboured verses explode into life on the solos. The former finds Peter Green jamming with Soundgarden, whereas ‘She Gets Me Higher’ comes to life with a Stephen Stills-esque dose of hedonism.
In ‘Satisfy You’ and ‘To The Wind I Go’ they moments where they raise the devil to glorious effect. ‘Satisfy You’ dons its leather and drinks whiskey with rock ‘n’ roll outliers BRMC. The scintillating guitar and defiant lyrics are begging for excessive dry ice and flashing red lights to blow audiences away. Whereas, ‘To The Wind I Go’ takes Muddy Waters out for a night of excess and regret. Both tracks, despite their bluesy nature, have an unknown destination which creates a sense of carefree abandon. They set themselves apart on what is, a remarkably consistent album.
The Heavy North have achieved a great deal on this debut. The guitar solos are the big take home but, the creative flourishes with the drums and vocals begin to shine upon repeat listens. It leaves you with a sense of hope that, next time out, they could do something really powerful.
*Images courtesy of http://www.blue22photography.com/