Troy Redfern – Invocation
Resonator rock blues and sizzling slide musician Troy Redfern has been in prolific form since singing the pandemic and lockdown blues.
Invocation, Redfern’s eighth album in the last four years, follows in the southern-slanted slide and rollicking rhythm footsteps of previous releases …The Fire Cosmic! and Wings Of Salvation, but this time around there is a broader, more expansive (and at times exploratory) palette.
Nor has the smart choice of bringing back the ‘Wings team done any harm – once again Dave Marks (who also features on bass, keys and percussion) brings a great production to the table (similarly Jo Webb’s mix) while Paul Stewart (The Feeling) is back behind the kit (Stewart’s drums were recorded at Dulcitone Studios, a converted chapel; the perfect room for a big drum sound).
Opening track 'The Strange' (one of five taster singles lifted from the album) follows the tried and tested Redfern formula – a chunky, big-beat mid-tempo rock-blues with a 70s glam vibe and some wicked slide work (natch).
But the song also carries a quirky and highly effective melody line that tells you there’s going to be more to these songs than first meets the ear.
'Getaway' (with a lyrical theme of starting over after tough times) takes those glam influences further by infusing the spirit of Marc Bolan & T-Rex into a straight ahead rock and roll number that deserves, nay demands, to be played loud (that it also features a delicious solo from Troy Redfern is the icing on the glam-ified cake).
The quiet resonator intro to 'Van Helsing' quickly gives way to a weighty, shape-shifting number that packs a lot into its three minutes including choppy guitars, a Heavy (with a capital H) riff and a strong, snappy hook chorus. Those that like the heavier/ feistier side of Troy Redfern’s music will love this song.
If 'Van Helsing' is one of the most interesting songs Troy Redfern has yet written, then the downtempo, cinematic vibe of 'The Calling' is one of the best he has yet laid down.
With the pulsating rhythmic mood created by Dave Marks & Paul Stewart allowing plenty of space for Redfern’s well-placed guitar remarks and solo lines to play in, 'The Calling' lyrically expresses the need and desire to unplug from our over-tech’d lives and head for the open spaces (paralleling the spacious nature of the song’s arrangement).
Invocation, Redfern’s eighth album in the last four years, follows in the southern-slanted slide and rollicking rhythm footsteps of previous releases …The Fire Cosmic! and Wings Of Salvation, but this time around there is a broader, more expansive (and at times exploratory) palette.
Nor has the smart choice of bringing back the ‘Wings team done any harm – once again Dave Marks (who also features on bass, keys and percussion) brings a great production to the table (similarly Jo Webb’s mix) while Paul Stewart (The Feeling) is back behind the kit (Stewart’s drums were recorded at Dulcitone Studios, a converted chapel; the perfect room for a big drum sound).
Opening track 'The Strange' (one of five taster singles lifted from the album) follows the tried and tested Redfern formula – a chunky, big-beat mid-tempo rock-blues with a 70s glam vibe and some wicked slide work (natch).
But the song also carries a quirky and highly effective melody line that tells you there’s going to be more to these songs than first meets the ear.
'Getaway' (with a lyrical theme of starting over after tough times) takes those glam influences further by infusing the spirit of Marc Bolan & T-Rex into a straight ahead rock and roll number that deserves, nay demands, to be played loud (that it also features a delicious solo from Troy Redfern is the icing on the glam-ified cake).
The quiet resonator intro to 'Van Helsing' quickly gives way to a weighty, shape-shifting number that packs a lot into its three minutes including choppy guitars, a Heavy (with a capital H) riff and a strong, snappy hook chorus. Those that like the heavier/ feistier side of Troy Redfern’s music will love this song.
If 'Van Helsing' is one of the most interesting songs Troy Redfern has yet written, then the downtempo, cinematic vibe of 'The Calling' is one of the best he has yet laid down.
With the pulsating rhythmic mood created by Dave Marks & Paul Stewart allowing plenty of space for Redfern’s well-placed guitar remarks and solo lines to play in, 'The Calling' lyrically expresses the need and desire to unplug from our over-tech’d lives and head for the open spaces (paralleling the spacious nature of the song’s arrangement).
That nod to open spaces and isolation also tells an Invocation story.
For songwriting inspiration, Troy Redfern and his 1929 National Triolian resonator guitar shared a week of solitude; with no distractions and full, musical focus, Redfern used a number of unorthodox approaches, including imagining completed songs in his meditative mind and committing fresh, spontaneous ideas straight from his guitar to his phone.
It's a discipline that has paid dividends and clearly an influence on songs such as 'Native,' where tribal drums, tremelo guitar and soundscape slide set the atmospheric scene before the song kicks into a higher, semi-anthemic gear.
'The Fever' and 'All Night Long' return to trademark Troy Redfern.
The former is a bass pumping slide blues with a side of glam and psychedelia, while the latter rocks, sorry rawks, the boogie like the proverbial, led by Redfern’s raspy vocality and some Fender Strat fury (giving the song a slightly different sonic texture).
'Blind Me,' by contrast, is another musical leap for Troy Redfern.
A dark and slow country blues with a lyric that tells of being blindsided by the truth of the not-all-as-it-seems matter, 'Blind Me' is a surprising, but welcome, highlight.
Lyrically, 'Take Me High' is the antidote to 'Blind Me.' An upbeat and up-tempo rock and roller that features Troy Redfern’s most celebratory slide work of the entire album (including joyous interjections between the verse lines), said slide is right on the edge of losing control, perfectly complementing that feeling of euphoria when finding the one ("Yeah, I knew it from the start, your name tattooed across my heart!").
The full-bore, psychobilly boogie of 'Voodoo Priestess' takes its lead from 'All Night Long' but, as per the title, goes to a whole other otherworldly place (kudos here to the raucous but locked in rhythm from Messrs Marks & Stewart).
Closing number 'The Last Stand,' with its unsettling, brooding groove-vibe, repeating guitar line (on a 1964 Teisco guitar no less) and dark, lyrical theme of revenge and vengeance, plays out like the soundtrack to an alternate reality western movie, juxtaposed by having an almost eastern motif attached to the slide solo.
File under mini-epic.
Given the similarities between …The Fire Cosmic! and Wings Of Salvation (the latter not so much a follow-on as the second part of a double album one year later; a clear instance of being forced into a more-of-the-same-crowd-pleasing corner) there needed to be a serious change-up to avoid that double album becoming a triple.
Even with the almost mandatory Planet Rock airplay aimed numbers, Invocation, while still retaining the Redfern sound, is that change-up; an impressively broader and bigger scoped work.
More importantly, it doesn’t just stand tall against any Redfern resonator & rock-blues album you care to mention, it’s one of his best offerings to date – and you don’t need to call upon any authority or conjure any musical spirits to invoke further confirmation in that regard.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Invocation, available in limited edition coloured vinyl, black vinyl, and two different CD artwork designs, will be released on RED7 Records on Friday May 17th.
For songwriting inspiration, Troy Redfern and his 1929 National Triolian resonator guitar shared a week of solitude; with no distractions and full, musical focus, Redfern used a number of unorthodox approaches, including imagining completed songs in his meditative mind and committing fresh, spontaneous ideas straight from his guitar to his phone.
It's a discipline that has paid dividends and clearly an influence on songs such as 'Native,' where tribal drums, tremelo guitar and soundscape slide set the atmospheric scene before the song kicks into a higher, semi-anthemic gear.
'The Fever' and 'All Night Long' return to trademark Troy Redfern.
The former is a bass pumping slide blues with a side of glam and psychedelia, while the latter rocks, sorry rawks, the boogie like the proverbial, led by Redfern’s raspy vocality and some Fender Strat fury (giving the song a slightly different sonic texture).
'Blind Me,' by contrast, is another musical leap for Troy Redfern.
A dark and slow country blues with a lyric that tells of being blindsided by the truth of the not-all-as-it-seems matter, 'Blind Me' is a surprising, but welcome, highlight.
Lyrically, 'Take Me High' is the antidote to 'Blind Me.' An upbeat and up-tempo rock and roller that features Troy Redfern’s most celebratory slide work of the entire album (including joyous interjections between the verse lines), said slide is right on the edge of losing control, perfectly complementing that feeling of euphoria when finding the one ("Yeah, I knew it from the start, your name tattooed across my heart!").
The full-bore, psychobilly boogie of 'Voodoo Priestess' takes its lead from 'All Night Long' but, as per the title, goes to a whole other otherworldly place (kudos here to the raucous but locked in rhythm from Messrs Marks & Stewart).
Closing number 'The Last Stand,' with its unsettling, brooding groove-vibe, repeating guitar line (on a 1964 Teisco guitar no less) and dark, lyrical theme of revenge and vengeance, plays out like the soundtrack to an alternate reality western movie, juxtaposed by having an almost eastern motif attached to the slide solo.
File under mini-epic.
Given the similarities between …The Fire Cosmic! and Wings Of Salvation (the latter not so much a follow-on as the second part of a double album one year later; a clear instance of being forced into a more-of-the-same-crowd-pleasing corner) there needed to be a serious change-up to avoid that double album becoming a triple.
Even with the almost mandatory Planet Rock airplay aimed numbers, Invocation, while still retaining the Redfern sound, is that change-up; an impressively broader and bigger scoped work.
More importantly, it doesn’t just stand tall against any Redfern resonator & rock-blues album you care to mention, it’s one of his best offerings to date – and you don’t need to call upon any authority or conjure any musical spirits to invoke further confirmation in that regard.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Invocation, available in limited edition coloured vinyl, black vinyl, and two different CD artwork designs, will be released on RED7 Records on Friday May 17th.