Tis Rock Music Ltd [Release date 09.10.15]

For an artist who has made her mark by always being in control – she’s the songwriter, co-producer, guitarist, vocalist and is even responsible for the art work and photography of the CD cover – Chantel McGregor’s Southern Gothic imagery allows her to dip into the world of disturbed characters and those unsettling feelings that have kept the Coen Brothers in work for years.

She doesn’t quite throw caution to the wind in search of her art, but rather explores related themes of longing, loss, despair and disconnect, via 10 well thought-out songs with real depth and musical weight.

She tells us the title track is predicated on a duality that could refer to the physical or spiritual experience of losing control. It’s a restless song, powered by an insistent riff and spiky, gnawing guitar break over a stuttering rhythm track that reflects its edgy subject matter.

Conceptually speaking, ‘Lose Control’ is the cornerstone of the album, though it’s not the best song on a very good effort. The fact that the starkly contrasting ‘Burn Your Anger’ –complete with a big hook – the breathy ‘Anaesthetize’ and the proggy ‘Walk On Land’ are all contenders for that accolade, reflects the album’s quality, diversity and originality.

Chantel’s dark, Southern Gothic vision is derived from the usual sources of film, music, photos and literature and she transform those strands into a big sounding sonic landscape.

This is Chantel’s second album in four years and sets herself the task of breaking out of the blues mould that has sustained her so far, to incorporate familiar rock styles (metal, grunge and prog) into something that is uniquely her own.

She does so with a confident vocal range, stellar phrasing and pristine diction. Her guitar parts are an integral part of the arrangements and act like an extra voice to express those feelings beyond her lyrics.

Her playing vacillates from the understated to the intense, be it on the sledgehammer riffs of ‘Your Fever’, the mid-song slide guitar part of the bluesy ‘Southern Belle’, or the clever change of tone and buzz guitar of ‘Killing Time’.

‘Lose Control’ is a very personal album, from its origins in her shed at the bottom of the garden to the implicit trust she puts in producer Livingstone Brown, who glues together the intrinsic dynamics of a multi-layered album.

‘Anaesthetize’ finds Chantel at her most emotive.  Her stature as a songwriter palpably grows as she successfully tackles the harrowing issues of addiction and loss while pushing herself vocally to convey the meaning of her lyrics.

‘Home’ is almost the opposite in terms of its lyrical source, being a heartfelt ballad drawn from her own emotional experience. It’s shot through with an Americana feel and is given real presence by a delicate string arrangement

The album flows mellifluously while remaining consistent to her overall conceptual theme. She spreads her narratives over different musical genres and searches for light and shade with heavy rock and grunge influenced material and sharply contrasting acoustic arrangements,

Everything comes to together perfectly on the closing, slow building progression of ‘Walk On Land’. The song is a triumph of the sum of its parts. The multi tracked vocals and sonorous mid-number piano line leads to final tension breaking guitar solo.  She duly takes things up a level and brings a defining moment to bear on a classy album.  **** ½

Review by Pete Feenstra

Pete Feenstra presents his Rock & Blues Show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio every Tuesday at 19:00 GMT, and “The Pete Feenstra Feature” on Sundays at 19:00

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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

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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.

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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)

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