Luna Rossa – the ‘side-project’ of keyboard maestro Jonathan Edwards and singer / songwriter and vocalist Anne-Marie Helder, is fast becoming in danger of usurping their main band, Panic Room.

The creative force behind both bands, Luna Rossa is a vehicle for the pair to indulge their acoustic leanings, and Secrets & Lies – the follow up to their excellent 2013 debut Sleeping Pills & Lullabies – once again majors on Jon’s marvellous grand piano playing, with Andy Coughlan (Cerys Matthews) supplying double bass throughout, harpist Sarah Dean accompanying on several numbers and engineer and co-producer Tim Hamill contributing some exquisite electric guitar lines.  Together, they provide the perfect stage to showcase Anne-Marie’s songwriting and sublime vocals.

‘Aurora’ opens the album and sets the scene for a series of beautifully poised performances – piano and double bass building, almost Tubular Bells like in its structure, with Anne Marie’s vocals gliding in as the piece swells to a gently restrained crescendo.

It’s followed by two of the best numbers you’ll hear this this year – the title track ‘Secrets and Lies’ with its delicate acoustic guitar, piano, and sensual vocals is simply haunting, while the bluesy Fender Rhodes and lead guitar lines of ‘Disappointment’ provide a smouldering foundation for a vocal performance by Anne-Marie that is guaranteed to send shivers down your spine.

The gentle ‘Black Dog’ is folk like in its construction with Helder’s acoustic guitar providing the mainstay around which Edward’s piano lines dance, while ‘Flowers In My Hair’ is almost choral with its Frere Jacques motif.

Edwards and Helder often like to throw a curveball into the mix and on this occasion it arrives in the form of ‘Happy Little Song’ – a fairground ride of a number that strikes a chord with the juxtaposition of ‘A Sailor’s Hornpipe’ within Tubular Bells.

But then it’s back to business with a wonderful cover of Todd Rundgren’s ‘Tiny Demons’ featuring some inspirational vocals, piano, flute and guitar, ‘Fly Away’ floats ethereally in the manner of Kate Bush at her finest, and ‘I’ve Been Wrong Before’ – a Dusty Springfield song written by Randy Newman, is given an almost Bond-like quality by the beautiful Luna Rossa Quartet string arrangement.

A pair of graceful laments – ‘The Harmony’, and ‘No Chords Left’ – close the album out in poignant style, the latter another number that wouldn’t be out of place in a Kate Bush set and which, as the final chords fade, feels a fitting finale.

Recorded at Sonic One in South Wales and mastered at Abbey Road in London, and with artwork hand painted by upcoming artist Karl James Mountford, the band will be launching the album with a short series of gigs at the beginning of November in Cardiff, London and Bilston.

Like Sleeping Pills & Lullabies before it, Secrets & Lies is a very lovely album in every sense, and a subtle reminder that some of the finest moments in rock are the quiet transcendent ones where space is as important as the notes that surround it.  An album you’ll want to listen to time and time again.  Exquisite.  *****

Review by Pete Whalley

Album review (Sleeping Pills & Lullabies)

UK dates (2014)

Saturday Nov 1st – The Gate, Cardiff
Sunday, Nov 2nd – The Borderline, London
Sunday, Nov 9th – The Robin 2, Bilston

Details/tickets at www.lunarossa.co/tour

---

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

---

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

---

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)

---

---

Popular (last 10 days)

---