Album review : NEVENA – Nevena
Frontiers [Release date: 09.12.22]
After contributing to the Big Deal album earlier this year, with several other female singers, Nevena strikes out now as a solo performer. Her debut walks a high wire between modern pop and melodic rock, as she looks to find her forte in terms of both style and genre.
As an accomplished musician – a Berklee College of Music alumnus – and a serial competition winner in Eastern Europe – including her home country’s (Serbia) version of The Voice, Nevena’s got quite some pedigree as a singer.
Here, she’s aided and abetted by Mike Palace, a musician, songwriter, producer whose reputation is growing exponentially with each album he’s involved in.
So, given it’s a solid combination of talents, you could still argue that the duo just can’t nail down their direction of travel. Let’s assume that’s deliberate, and that they’re using this album to establish what works best, and … well, what doesn’t.
Several songs stand out. The gleaming, melodic rock immediacy of ‘Bad Sun Rising’ lifts it above the surrounding tracks. Palace’s guitar sound is pretty tough, for once. Like the dramatic ‘Miracles’, a big booming ballad, it’s done in the style of eighties’ chart ever presents, Pat Benatar and Heart. So, we’re looking back to AOR’s glory days.
Then there’s the hi-tech AOR/contemporary pop of ‘Too Late’, ‘Bulletproof’ and ‘Writers Block’. These are songs with energy to spare. You can easily imagine them climbing charts all over Europe, filling dancefloors with catchy, easily accessible hooks and rhythms.
But the one song that really cuts it here is ‘Straight Into Madness’, a country rock cracker. There are plenty of well worn country tropes trailing through the song – it’s full of dirt roads and blue collar sentiments. Palace and Nevena use that sense of familiarity to draw us in, then hook us with the music and the emotion. A signpost to the future, perhaps. ***
Review by Brian McGowan
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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024
In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections
Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024
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