The approach with every Ginger Wildheart album is ‘expect the unexpected’. Ginger is not one for sticking to a particular genre or style on his albums and this release is no different, only Devin Townsend can touch Ginger in the eclectic stakes.

This album is a follow on from ‘Year Of The Fanclub’ which was released back in 2015, a product of a year long project by Ginger during which he released tracks to the fanclub members, the most popular of which were included on the afore mentioned album. The content here is some of the remaining tracks from that period and if this is the reserve selection then Ginger’s year in the studio was indeed well spent.

The fast and furious ‘Friends Of Bill’ opens the album with Ginger in punk mode, a riotous track which grabs you by the throat and certainly gets your attention. ‘King Rat’ keeps things bouncing along nicely with a great melody and hooky chorus. ‘That’s A Nasty Habit You’ve Got There’ slows the pace a bit but the melodies and harmonies are spot on throughout.

‘Caer Urfa’ is as sunny as a hot summer’s day whilst ‘Right In The Feels’ takes the pace back up a notch or two and pulls no punches. ‘Petite Mort’ and ‘Waves Of Sadness’ are more accessible tracks again with killer melodies, how Ginger consistently comes up with this stream of first class riffs and melodies is beyond me!

These two tracks though are just a ruse to lull you into a false sense of security before Ginger goes into full on ‘eclectic’ mode with the one, two of ‘Bloody Knees’ and ‘Don’t Lose Your Tail Girl’. Quite how the riff for ‘Bloody Knees’ came about is anyone’s guess, consuming cheese before bedtime may be the answer for it can only have come from a fevered dream. The fact that the track hangs together as a cohesive piece is testament to the song writing prowess of Mr Wildheart.

‘Don’t Lose Your Tail Girl’ is a sprawling nine minute epic which takes you on a musical journey that at times veers off at a tangent but again comes together superbly. The album finishes with a real party anthem in the shape of ‘ I’ll Have Another’ which, coincidentally, is exactly what I was thinking as the last chords rang out!

This is an excellent album which showcases Ginger’s musical ability and song writing skills throughout. He may struggle with personal issues at times but if creating music such as this provides him with an outlet for his troubled mind then this album proves that music really is the best therapy.  ****

Review by Dave Wilson