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Cadiz Music [Release date 27.11.20]
Moviehouse MD and modern day renaissance man, Mark Vennis, fresh from producing acclaimed documentary, Rebel Dread, has just released his third album, Fighting On All Fronts.
It’s an album Vennis recorded primarily with long time music associate, Dave Sweetenham, over the last 18 months. A day here, a weekend there and so forth. It’s not what’s perceived as the normal approach, but personal circumstances always prevail, and in reality it’s given Vennis and his songs a perspective that might otherwise have been lost in a short term dash to the finishing line.
His abrasive, roots rock style is self admittedly in the same street fighting musical mould as Paul Weller, The Clash, Bob Marley and others. And his edgy yet efficient vocals are the perfect vehicle for this ‘three chords and the cold unvarnished truth’ approach.
It’s a brand of musical social realism that looks hard for inspiration in humanity, finding voice in songs as varied as ‘Waste Away’, a sharply observed litany of suffering and ‘Cut Me Loose’, a defiant, reggae shaped cry from the heart.
His voice has soul, he keeps a tight rein on the sharp objects that rattle about his vocal melodies, and he delivers with emotion and conviction. Most especially on ‘Light Summer Rain’, and ‘The Shark’. One a relaxed, folk/country rock song, exalting the healing power of the rain, and its ability to wash away our woes. The other is one of the most disconcerting tracks on the album, as a menacing, mysterious character cuts through the city streets, smelling “blood in the water”.
The bluesy, Stonesy ‘Edge Of Everything’ is as emblematic of the album’s Raison D’etre as you could get. Its doom laden quality tests Vennis’s empathy for wounded souls to the limit, as the song’s despairing commentary describe a town, a city, a world descending into chaos.
Maybe, just maybe, albums like this will shake enough of us awake to respond. Who knows. ***1/2
Review by Brian McGowan
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14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
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