Los Angeles based bluesman JONNY LANG will issue his new studio album titled “Signs” in Europe on 25 August [8 September in U.S.]
It will be his first album in four years…
Lang is of Norwegian origin, although he was born in Fargo, North Dakota.
He started playing the guitar at the age of 12. Lang toured with the Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Blues Traveler, Jeff Beck and Sting. He played at The Whitehouse (a guest of the Clintons) and made a cameo appearance in the film Blues Brothers 2000.
His style has moved through blues, gospel, rap and rock and won a Grammy Award in 2007 for the fifth album “Turn Around” — 2006.
We had an early listen to “Signs” produced by Lang with Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders (Josh Jelly on “Bring Me Back Home.”)
Album opener “Make It Move” is agitating and emotional with clean and choppy rhythms and granular vocals.
A detached voice raises a question and the answer is hacked out with extreme emotion. The mosquito fuzz of guitar, towards the end, adapts to the mood of this song of redemption.
“Snakes” is clad in shingles and has a sunless tumult before it’s spread by oxidized guitar sounds that surround the scene to halt the gleeful rise of guileful snakes…
“Last Man Standing” is a baying scream of a song that calls for attention. The riff is striking, the voice prominent and the guitar-work is clear-cut. This is a conspicuous chorale to the strength of belief in oneself, and faith in a greater power, teaching that disaster can be overcome if one adopts a determined sense of salvation.
“Bring Me Back Home” is unrushed and aesthetically moving and has more than a passing resemblance to the material from the heart-warming side of the Prince back-catalogue.
This album is an incredible achievement. Full of purity, full of light, and of virtue and release…
Simply raw, it’s an unprecedented blues experience …
Words: @neilmach 2017 ©
Link: https://www.facebook.com/JonnyLang/
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