Danny Bryant - Nothing Left Behind
Nothing Left Behind, the first album in three years from British blues rock guitarist-singer-songwriter Danny Bryant is, as Bryant himself says, the most personal chapter of his career thus far – and a musical rehabilitation.
Having spoken openly over the last couple of years about his personal restlessness and severe alcohol dependency (leading to organ damage and long stay in hospital) Danny Bryant has, thankfully, come out the other side sober, with a better perspective on life and a brand new band.
Indeed so significant are the contributions from Marc Raner (guitar, producer, keys), Jamie Pipe (keys, Hammond), Artjum Feldtser (bass, backing vocals) and Alex Hinx (drums, percussion) that Nothing Left Behind could have been credited as a Danny Bryant Band album.
'Tougher Now' sets the new and improved Danny Bryant scene in superb up-tempo, blues-funky fashion.
Lyrically, Bryant stares back at the darker road of his past, as it disappears in the rear view mirror.
"I’m never going back… no, I’m tougher now!" sings Bryant with gravelly voiced conviction.
A wicked solo that cries in celebratory sympathy to the lyric, and a short, bass driven breakdown only enhance the song further.
The bristling energy of 'Not Like The Others,' which shifts from atmospheric, reflective verses to rockin’ hard AOR choruses, keeps the tempo high, and upbeat.
"I don’t wanna be just like the others!" cries Danny Bryant with a delivery that matches the vocal & lyrical defiance heard on 'Tougher Now.'
The stylistic shape of this number (the music was written by Marc Raner) is a new but welcome development, or progression, to the Danny Bryant sound.
Having spoken openly over the last couple of years about his personal restlessness and severe alcohol dependency (leading to organ damage and long stay in hospital) Danny Bryant has, thankfully, come out the other side sober, with a better perspective on life and a brand new band.
Indeed so significant are the contributions from Marc Raner (guitar, producer, keys), Jamie Pipe (keys, Hammond), Artjum Feldtser (bass, backing vocals) and Alex Hinx (drums, percussion) that Nothing Left Behind could have been credited as a Danny Bryant Band album.
'Tougher Now' sets the new and improved Danny Bryant scene in superb up-tempo, blues-funky fashion.
Lyrically, Bryant stares back at the darker road of his past, as it disappears in the rear view mirror.
"I’m never going back… no, I’m tougher now!" sings Bryant with gravelly voiced conviction.
A wicked solo that cries in celebratory sympathy to the lyric, and a short, bass driven breakdown only enhance the song further.
The bristling energy of 'Not Like The Others,' which shifts from atmospheric, reflective verses to rockin’ hard AOR choruses, keeps the tempo high, and upbeat.
"I don’t wanna be just like the others!" cries Danny Bryant with a delivery that matches the vocal & lyrical defiance heard on 'Tougher Now.'
The stylistic shape of this number (the music was written by Marc Raner) is a new but welcome development, or progression, to the Danny Bryant sound.
The piano led 'Enemy Inside' has Danny Bryant lyrically admitting to being his own worst enemy during his darkest, drink-ridden days.
An atmospheric, spacious downtempo with well-placed guitar textures and an emotive solo, 'Enemy Inside' is as cathartic and personal to Bryant as it is, one hopes, a powerful support to anyone dealing with their own inner demons.
Contrast then comes calling via the down and dirty 'Swagger,' a thick-riffed stomper (with touches of ZZ Top) that allows Danny Bryant to let rip on the six-string atop a lock-down tight groove.
'Redemption,' which is built on little more than a repeating/ hypnotic three-note guitar refrain (another musical idea of Marc Raner’s), is a stark and brooding number where Danny Bryant’s lyrical soul-searching ("I can feel the Devil near me, walking two steps behind…") does indeed lead, through a highly atmospheric six-minutes, to Redemption.
The song also features an expressive, off-the-cuff solo. Played in short burst statements, it came from the unlikely scenario of Bryant initially looking to simply lay down a guide solo – he was so in the zone however, and free from any distraction, that it remains as first recorded. And rightly so.
The short and sludgy shuffle style of 'Three Times as Hard' reminds of Stevie Ray (never a bad thing), while the ballad 'Nothing Man' doesn’t so much remind of Bruce Springsteen as borrow directly from him.
Originally written by Springsteen in 1994 from the perspective of a war hero grappling with PTSD, it was later reworked and recorded for The Rising album as a tribute to the First Responders of 9/11.
Here, however, parts of the lyric could be interpreted as what Danny Bryant was going through in his own, self-questioning days of the recent past.
Interestingly, the melodic Americana of 'Missing You,' which follows, isn’t dissimilar to a song Bruce Springsteen could have written (the reflective Yang to the more contemplative Yin of 'Nothing Man').
Peer comparisons can also be made with the woozy, rock blues sway of 'Lover Like You,' which comes across like a hybrid of Free and Walter Trout (again, no bad thing).
The "need a lover like you" chorus chants toward song’s end allow for Bryant to flex some funky, guitar-led muscle (the band clearly had a lot of fun playing and recording this one).
It wouldn’t be a Danny Bryant album without a slow blues and this year’s model, the gospel-tinged 'Just For You,' doesn’t disappoint.
Stripped back with plenty of room for Danny Bryant’s heartfelt vocal to breath, the seven-minute number features some beautifully emotive lead work from Bryant, where every note has its place, and never overreaches.
The album closes out with 'Heatwave Heartbreak,' a rhythmically swaying instrumental that lyrically expresses itself through the melodic and melancholic voice of Danny Bryant's guitar.
Nothing Left Behind (which sports a great mix from recording engineer Martin Meinschäfer) is Danny Bryant’s best work to date.
That it’s also a cathartic, positive, and in places very personal work with a few new musical twists and faceted turns, only makes it, and Danny Bryant, stronger.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Nothing Left Behind is out now via Jazzhaus Records.
Purchase the CD or LP from the Official web-shop: https://dannybryant.shop/en-gb/collections/frontpage
Check out FabricationsHQ's tie-in interview with Danny Bryant by clicking here.
An atmospheric, spacious downtempo with well-placed guitar textures and an emotive solo, 'Enemy Inside' is as cathartic and personal to Bryant as it is, one hopes, a powerful support to anyone dealing with their own inner demons.
Contrast then comes calling via the down and dirty 'Swagger,' a thick-riffed stomper (with touches of ZZ Top) that allows Danny Bryant to let rip on the six-string atop a lock-down tight groove.
'Redemption,' which is built on little more than a repeating/ hypnotic three-note guitar refrain (another musical idea of Marc Raner’s), is a stark and brooding number where Danny Bryant’s lyrical soul-searching ("I can feel the Devil near me, walking two steps behind…") does indeed lead, through a highly atmospheric six-minutes, to Redemption.
The song also features an expressive, off-the-cuff solo. Played in short burst statements, it came from the unlikely scenario of Bryant initially looking to simply lay down a guide solo – he was so in the zone however, and free from any distraction, that it remains as first recorded. And rightly so.
The short and sludgy shuffle style of 'Three Times as Hard' reminds of Stevie Ray (never a bad thing), while the ballad 'Nothing Man' doesn’t so much remind of Bruce Springsteen as borrow directly from him.
Originally written by Springsteen in 1994 from the perspective of a war hero grappling with PTSD, it was later reworked and recorded for The Rising album as a tribute to the First Responders of 9/11.
Here, however, parts of the lyric could be interpreted as what Danny Bryant was going through in his own, self-questioning days of the recent past.
Interestingly, the melodic Americana of 'Missing You,' which follows, isn’t dissimilar to a song Bruce Springsteen could have written (the reflective Yang to the more contemplative Yin of 'Nothing Man').
Peer comparisons can also be made with the woozy, rock blues sway of 'Lover Like You,' which comes across like a hybrid of Free and Walter Trout (again, no bad thing).
The "need a lover like you" chorus chants toward song’s end allow for Bryant to flex some funky, guitar-led muscle (the band clearly had a lot of fun playing and recording this one).
It wouldn’t be a Danny Bryant album without a slow blues and this year’s model, the gospel-tinged 'Just For You,' doesn’t disappoint.
Stripped back with plenty of room for Danny Bryant’s heartfelt vocal to breath, the seven-minute number features some beautifully emotive lead work from Bryant, where every note has its place, and never overreaches.
The album closes out with 'Heatwave Heartbreak,' a rhythmically swaying instrumental that lyrically expresses itself through the melodic and melancholic voice of Danny Bryant's guitar.
Nothing Left Behind (which sports a great mix from recording engineer Martin Meinschäfer) is Danny Bryant’s best work to date.
That it’s also a cathartic, positive, and in places very personal work with a few new musical twists and faceted turns, only makes it, and Danny Bryant, stronger.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Nothing Left Behind is out now via Jazzhaus Records.
Purchase the CD or LP from the Official web-shop: https://dannybryant.shop/en-gb/collections/frontpage
Check out FabricationsHQ's tie-in interview with Danny Bryant by clicking here.