Troy Redfern …The Fire Cosmic!
Whether British singer-guitarist & wicked slide player Troy Redfern has one of the biggest blues rock hits of 2021 on his hands with …The Fire Cosmic! remains to be seen (it certainly deserves to be), but he most assuredly has one of the biggest sounding releases of the year.
The sonic expanse of the album is courtesy of the inspired choice of heading to the legendary Rockfield Studios in North Wales where many a classic (and classic sounding) album was recorded, including Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera, to name but two of the numerous and renowned Rockfield productions.
Those big sounds, delivered by Troy Redfern, Darby Todd (drums) and Dave Marks (bass, keys) have been not so much recorded as captured (this is a feral beast of an album that snaps and snarls at every rhythmic twist and six string turn) by the expertise of producer Paul "Win" Winstanley; the exceptional mastering job by Frank Arkwright (senior mastering engineer at Abbey Road Studios) ensures every fiery note and sonic nuance is present and correct.
Following a burst of phased guitar/ feedback Troy Redfern and band come out the gates red hot and rocking for 'Scorpio,' a huge sounding slice of rockabilly surf that positively monsters across your speakers/ audio source of choice for its near five minutes of heavy, Tex-Mex bombast.
"Now the tables have turned!" declares Troy Redfern with snarly conviction (he also delivers an equally snarly guitar solo).
Turned? I think you’ll find the tables have been flipped upside down and splintered, such is the power (trio intensity) of delivery.
Redfern then boogies on down the road, with Messrs Todd & Marks swaggering right in behind him, for gritty riff and slide driven lead-off single, 'Waiting For Your Love'…
The sonic expanse of the album is courtesy of the inspired choice of heading to the legendary Rockfield Studios in North Wales where many a classic (and classic sounding) album was recorded, including Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera, to name but two of the numerous and renowned Rockfield productions.
Those big sounds, delivered by Troy Redfern, Darby Todd (drums) and Dave Marks (bass, keys) have been not so much recorded as captured (this is a feral beast of an album that snaps and snarls at every rhythmic twist and six string turn) by the expertise of producer Paul "Win" Winstanley; the exceptional mastering job by Frank Arkwright (senior mastering engineer at Abbey Road Studios) ensures every fiery note and sonic nuance is present and correct.
Following a burst of phased guitar/ feedback Troy Redfern and band come out the gates red hot and rocking for 'Scorpio,' a huge sounding slice of rockabilly surf that positively monsters across your speakers/ audio source of choice for its near five minutes of heavy, Tex-Mex bombast.
"Now the tables have turned!" declares Troy Redfern with snarly conviction (he also delivers an equally snarly guitar solo).
Turned? I think you’ll find the tables have been flipped upside down and splintered, such is the power (trio intensity) of delivery.
Redfern then boogies on down the road, with Messrs Todd & Marks swaggering right in behind him, for gritty riff and slide driven lead-off single, 'Waiting For Your Love'…
Another slide-led affair, the raunch and roll of 'One Way Ticket,' then leads the blues rock bruisin’ charge.
A purposeful tale of never look back optimism, 'One Way Ticket' also sports a short, double-time hoedown section that’s as daft as it is delightful.
The pace slows for the weighty, mid-tempo shuffle-groove of 'Love & War' (a raw to the bone piece of blues rock that features wicked solo licks from Troy Redfern) before 'On Fire' ups the rawk quotient once again.
The latter's sonic vibrancy and heaviness are bolstered by guest guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Sons of Apollo) letting rip on his signature double neck guitar.
Bumblefoot shred is replaced by Kravitz funk for 'Lay That Love Down,' a mid-tempo shout of heavy, feel-good blues-funkin’ fun, wicked licks and, natch, some searing slide.
'Ghosts,' written by Troy Redfern on his well-worn and well-travelled 1929 National Triolian Resonator (the instrument features on many of the songs), is an Appalachian meets country meets cinematic western styled number featuring Redfern & Resonator over a train-track rhythm, ever-building sound and a big chorus.
It's also, as confirmed by Troy Redfern, a sequel of sorts to 'The Line,' a song that appeared on Redfern's previous album Dirt Blues Ritual, with a narrative of a woman who has escaped a violent relationship and riding into the never once looking back sunset.
Downtempo contrast comes by way of the acoustic guitar, folk harmonies and plaintive slide remarks of 'Saving Grace' before 'Sanctify' returns to the heavy rockabilly boogie that is such a Troy Redfern trademark.
The near six-minute 'Stone' could only be the album closer.
From Resonator and folk-styled opening, the song builds through a heavier blues waltz passage (which repeats and reinforces the "need to be free in this life" tag-line) before soaring on a Skynyrd-esque, slow burn second half that features big backing choruses and high-flying and high-crying slide soloing.
The crescendo then fades to leave the song’s refrain being played by Dave Marks on a lone piano – the very same Rockfield Studios piano that Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was recorded on.
Nice touch, guys.
The cover of …The Fire Cosmic! is as cool as the 10 tracks within are musically incandescent, courtesy of Troy Redfern’s "Silver Age" (one for the super-hero geeks) Marvel comic-book styled artwork.
Blues ladies & rock gentlemen, Troy Redfern and …The Fire Cosmic! A Marvel-ous adventure, inside and out. Nuff’ said.
(Another for the super… well, you get the sonic picture).
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
A purposeful tale of never look back optimism, 'One Way Ticket' also sports a short, double-time hoedown section that’s as daft as it is delightful.
The pace slows for the weighty, mid-tempo shuffle-groove of 'Love & War' (a raw to the bone piece of blues rock that features wicked solo licks from Troy Redfern) before 'On Fire' ups the rawk quotient once again.
The latter's sonic vibrancy and heaviness are bolstered by guest guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Sons of Apollo) letting rip on his signature double neck guitar.
Bumblefoot shred is replaced by Kravitz funk for 'Lay That Love Down,' a mid-tempo shout of heavy, feel-good blues-funkin’ fun, wicked licks and, natch, some searing slide.
'Ghosts,' written by Troy Redfern on his well-worn and well-travelled 1929 National Triolian Resonator (the instrument features on many of the songs), is an Appalachian meets country meets cinematic western styled number featuring Redfern & Resonator over a train-track rhythm, ever-building sound and a big chorus.
It's also, as confirmed by Troy Redfern, a sequel of sorts to 'The Line,' a song that appeared on Redfern's previous album Dirt Blues Ritual, with a narrative of a woman who has escaped a violent relationship and riding into the never once looking back sunset.
Downtempo contrast comes by way of the acoustic guitar, folk harmonies and plaintive slide remarks of 'Saving Grace' before 'Sanctify' returns to the heavy rockabilly boogie that is such a Troy Redfern trademark.
The near six-minute 'Stone' could only be the album closer.
From Resonator and folk-styled opening, the song builds through a heavier blues waltz passage (which repeats and reinforces the "need to be free in this life" tag-line) before soaring on a Skynyrd-esque, slow burn second half that features big backing choruses and high-flying and high-crying slide soloing.
The crescendo then fades to leave the song’s refrain being played by Dave Marks on a lone piano – the very same Rockfield Studios piano that Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was recorded on.
Nice touch, guys.
The cover of …The Fire Cosmic! is as cool as the 10 tracks within are musically incandescent, courtesy of Troy Redfern’s "Silver Age" (one for the super-hero geeks) Marvel comic-book styled artwork.
Blues ladies & rock gentlemen, Troy Redfern and …The Fire Cosmic! A Marvel-ous adventure, inside and out. Nuff’ said.
(Another for the super… well, you get the sonic picture).
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ