Chris Antonik – Morningstar
The weighty swagger of the nifty-riff led 'Waves of Stone,' enhanced by female backing vocals accompanying a biting lead vocal (lyrically telling of a failed & broken relationship), buffered by dreamier, psychedelic passages, heralds the arrival of Canadian musician Chris Antonik’s fourth solo album Morningstar.
It’s not just an impacting opening gambit, it’s also one of the most ear-catching rock-blues numbers of the year, bolstered further by some great lead guitar trade-off between the Toronto based Antonik and Jarekus Singleton (one of a number of guest musicians on the album).
Following number 'Pilgrim' plays the radio-friendly crossover AOR blues Yin to the feisty Yang of its predecessor; the song is no less memorable, however, settling into an infectious groove and featuring some tasty lead lines from Antonik alongside, again, the added layer of female harmony backing vocals, courtesy of Marlene O’Neill and Ciceal Levy.
'Back to the Good' is a funky, soulful and feel-good number that offers horn blowin’ and full-bodied guitar cryin’ in equal measure while Antonik, O’Neill & Levy "get right back" to the reinforced optimism of the chorus...
It’s not just an impacting opening gambit, it’s also one of the most ear-catching rock-blues numbers of the year, bolstered further by some great lead guitar trade-off between the Toronto based Antonik and Jarekus Singleton (one of a number of guest musicians on the album).
Following number 'Pilgrim' plays the radio-friendly crossover AOR blues Yin to the feisty Yang of its predecessor; the song is no less memorable, however, settling into an infectious groove and featuring some tasty lead lines from Antonik alongside, again, the added layer of female harmony backing vocals, courtesy of Marlene O’Neill and Ciceal Levy.
'Back to the Good' is a funky, soulful and feel-good number that offers horn blowin’ and full-bodied guitar cryin’ in equal measure while Antonik, O’Neill & Levy "get right back" to the reinforced optimism of the chorus...
Downtempo blues number 'Trust in Me' carries interesting reggae undertones and a short, jazzy interlude featuring Canadian musician, singer & composer Alison Young (on saxophone).
'In Our Home' then drops the intensity completely to provide the album’s dreamy, country-folk styled moment, featuring accompanying lead and harmony vocals from Alison Young and delicate pedal steel atmospheres from Burke Carrol. The Moog synth solo gives the song a contemporary feel within what is a very traditional, and quite charming, framework.
'In Our Home' also helps reinforce the underlying theme of the album, that of the human experience; those we can all relate to and Antonik’s own, as he reaches mid-life and takes stock (very few stones are left unturned).
'The Greatest of the Americans,' one of three, longer-form feature pieces on the album, also helps confirm this is a multi-faceted and multi-styled (yet still cohesive in its story) album that does exactly what Chris Antonik set out to achieve – wanting to "push the boundaries of modern blues and blues-rock."
Opening with a Knopfler-esque meets the blues guitar intro, backed by atmospheric synth blanket, the two-minute 'Pt.1' gives way to the six-minute 'Pt 2,' a rhythmic piece that frames itself as a modern jazz-blues, Antonik’s emotive six-string bursts sharing space with Alison Young’s yearning saxophone cries.
It's also, unquestionably, the grower of the album.
The up-tempo 'Learning to Love You' features lead guitar bursts from Chris Antonik that are as joyous as the "starting to heal" optimism of the lyrics; the soul-blues and horns of 'How To Be Alone' then allows Antonik to be suitably soulful, and expressive, on the solo.
The old-school blues rock and roll of 'We’re Not Alone' sees Chris Antonik trading licks with fellow Canadian guitarist Paul Deslauriers before further contrast is provided by the eight-and-a-half minute 'The Promise of Airfields.'
The song sets off with a smooth, slightly Latin vibe (and distinctly Santana-esque splashes of guitar) driven by percussion, horns and Robb Christian’s flute, before switching to a pleasantly drifting instrumental second half; Antonik lays down some thick, echoing guitar parts that give the piece a very chilled, 70s album feel.
'Little Man' is a personal, horns backed blues-lullaby by not Chris Antonik the musician but Chris Antonik the loving father; as if to reinforce that love it’s followed by soulful blues ballad 'Be Here Now,' featuring Mike Mattison (Tedeschi Trucks Band, Scrapomatic) on harmony vocals - "there’s nowhere else that I wanna be, in my life and the air I breathe… than here now."
The album closes out on the six-and-a-half minute ballad 'Grace.'
Led by the piano of Alan Zemaitas and backing from, once again, Marlene O’Neill and Ciceal Levy, 'Grace' is a beautifully conceived piece to both loss and gratefulness ("now I see there was love in your leaving…").
The song slowly builds to Chris Antonik's guitar solo, accompanying O’Neill & Ciceal in full, blues crying poignancy.
Co-produced with Juno Award-winning producer Derek Downham (who features across the album on various instrumentation), this is Chris Antonik’s broadest (by some long way) and best work to date.
That the fourteen songs and 70 minutes seem to be over in a much shorter time-frame, such is the immersion, also speaks volumes – as does Chris Antonik on Morningstar.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
'In Our Home' then drops the intensity completely to provide the album’s dreamy, country-folk styled moment, featuring accompanying lead and harmony vocals from Alison Young and delicate pedal steel atmospheres from Burke Carrol. The Moog synth solo gives the song a contemporary feel within what is a very traditional, and quite charming, framework.
'In Our Home' also helps reinforce the underlying theme of the album, that of the human experience; those we can all relate to and Antonik’s own, as he reaches mid-life and takes stock (very few stones are left unturned).
'The Greatest of the Americans,' one of three, longer-form feature pieces on the album, also helps confirm this is a multi-faceted and multi-styled (yet still cohesive in its story) album that does exactly what Chris Antonik set out to achieve – wanting to "push the boundaries of modern blues and blues-rock."
Opening with a Knopfler-esque meets the blues guitar intro, backed by atmospheric synth blanket, the two-minute 'Pt.1' gives way to the six-minute 'Pt 2,' a rhythmic piece that frames itself as a modern jazz-blues, Antonik’s emotive six-string bursts sharing space with Alison Young’s yearning saxophone cries.
It's also, unquestionably, the grower of the album.
The up-tempo 'Learning to Love You' features lead guitar bursts from Chris Antonik that are as joyous as the "starting to heal" optimism of the lyrics; the soul-blues and horns of 'How To Be Alone' then allows Antonik to be suitably soulful, and expressive, on the solo.
The old-school blues rock and roll of 'We’re Not Alone' sees Chris Antonik trading licks with fellow Canadian guitarist Paul Deslauriers before further contrast is provided by the eight-and-a-half minute 'The Promise of Airfields.'
The song sets off with a smooth, slightly Latin vibe (and distinctly Santana-esque splashes of guitar) driven by percussion, horns and Robb Christian’s flute, before switching to a pleasantly drifting instrumental second half; Antonik lays down some thick, echoing guitar parts that give the piece a very chilled, 70s album feel.
'Little Man' is a personal, horns backed blues-lullaby by not Chris Antonik the musician but Chris Antonik the loving father; as if to reinforce that love it’s followed by soulful blues ballad 'Be Here Now,' featuring Mike Mattison (Tedeschi Trucks Band, Scrapomatic) on harmony vocals - "there’s nowhere else that I wanna be, in my life and the air I breathe… than here now."
The album closes out on the six-and-a-half minute ballad 'Grace.'
Led by the piano of Alan Zemaitas and backing from, once again, Marlene O’Neill and Ciceal Levy, 'Grace' is a beautifully conceived piece to both loss and gratefulness ("now I see there was love in your leaving…").
The song slowly builds to Chris Antonik's guitar solo, accompanying O’Neill & Ciceal in full, blues crying poignancy.
Co-produced with Juno Award-winning producer Derek Downham (who features across the album on various instrumentation), this is Chris Antonik’s broadest (by some long way) and best work to date.
That the fourteen songs and 70 minutes seem to be over in a much shorter time-frame, such is the immersion, also speaks volumes – as does Chris Antonik on Morningstar.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ