FAIR PLAY(Leif Carlsson/Mats Sannetorp) – Fair Play

(Leif Carlsson/Mats Sannetorp)

‘Fair Play’ is an excellent guitar driven instrumental album that is as delightful as it is unexpected. Swedish hard rock and blues guitarist Mats Sannetorp and producer Leif Carlsson who doubles on keyboards and guitar, have built an impressive album round some previously unrecorded ideas.

The duo anchor a musical combo comprising three different bass players, two drummers, an additional guitarist and a fine harp player Stefan Swen, who bring to life 11 well constructed rock pieces with jazz, blues, funky and rootsy edges. Just as importantly the music is jagged enough to avoid the worst excesses of fusion and convince you of its inherent rock credentials.

The result is a tightly wrapped instrumental album, strong on melody, well constructed songs and expansive playing but tempered by cool restraint. The heaviest they get is on the unreconstructed boogie intro of Leif’s ‘Ordinary life’, which evolves into unexpected harmony guitar lines and the kind of belated shredding that all too often dominates instrumental albums.

‘Fair Play’ is all about compositional strength, confident band interplay and crisp coherent soloing that teases a dynamic to its resolution before returning to the melody. The unpronounceable ‘Jemtlandssanges’ is a simple but effective melody with echoes of Pate Metheny and Lyle Mars, while the stylistically different jazzy shuffle ‘With Love’ does indeed evoke the title through some subtle guitar/piano interplay.

And there’s yet more variety on the Latino pulse of ‘Friday fever’ as it cleverly works its way through different tonal attacks to maintain your interest throughout. And having established an integral flow, the duo head for the southern rock feel of ‘All alone’ with its Allman Brothers style, cruising down the highway feel.

And it is this Scandinavian blend of different moods and shifting musical nuances that make ‘Fair Play’ a slow burning but insistent gem of an album. The music engages you to the point of wondering what comes next, and further explorations don’t disappoint.

There’s the low down harp led boogie of ‘On the road again’ – only the boogie format and title are germane to the similarly titled Canned Heat song – and the contrasting synth and acoustic guitar noodles of ‘Vita Vorenus’.

Best of all is the seagull laden acoustic and beautifully sculpted ‘Spiritual’ which initially sounds like Peter Green’s ‘Albatross’, but is gently underpinned by Per Froling’s fretless bass and is given its shape by a gorgeous languid bluesy solo. This track alone embodies all the aspects of delicate touch, tone and feel that imbue the album with an organic heart all too often missing from instrumental guitar albums.

‘Fair Play’ bristles with confident playing that allows the songs to breathe and speak for themselves without the need for stunt guitars and shredding. The closing keyboard layered title track has the kind of brooding Pink Floyd feel that suggest the duo are only just scratching the surface of their potential, but for now it’s a splendid introduction and well worth checking out.

****
Review by Pete Feenstra

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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)
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