A1 Records [Release date 26.05.23]

Ivy Gold’s ‘Broken Silence’ is a step up from their debut ‘Six Dusty Winds’ album. It’s built round the same muscular rock antecedents, but features stronger songs which are unafraid to let the funk, blues and gospel influences bubble to the top.

It’s an eloquent statement of what an international supergroup can potentially be, on a hard rocking album shot through with intensity and vitality that gives the band its visceral edge.

Ivy Gold’s exploratory style is based on strong songs, natural spontaneity and a sparkling production which brings out the best in their material. Their cross genre material comprises original narratives, intuitive grooves and hard rocking bluster.

The band features German guitarist / musical director Sebastian Eder (Avalon) and vocalist/lyricist Manou and is anchored by the formidable American rhythm section of bassist Kevin Moore (Jennifer Rush/Billy Bangs) and drummer Tal Bergman (Sammy Hagar/Jo Bonamassa/Billy Idol), while British Hammond player Anders Olinder (Glenn Hughes/Peter Gabriel) provides the perfect foil.

Together they lock into deep grooves, topped by Manou’s passionate vocals and Eder’s exhilarating guitar playing which illuminates the hard rock and funk influences, but always serves the song.

The title track is the perfect opener as everything builds imperiously from soul bearing lyrical introspection towards the uplifting hook, delivered over Olinder’s Hammond stabs.

It’s an exemplar of what the band does so well, which is to explore a wide variety of influences with total commitment and a majestic sweep which provides them with a unique composite.

Vocalist Manou uses her versatile timbre to phrase articulately and attack her own lyrics with gusto. She’s unafraid to take chances and reach for those places where her natural exuberance takes her and this gives the band a refreshing edge.

The key to this refreshing album is the way the band strikes the perfect balance between genres, as evidenced by the spiky, hard hitting funky groove of ‘House of Cards’ and the bouncy and soulful, horn and bass-led ‘Ordinary Woman’, which delivers real heft.

Manou’s expansive vocals reach up and grab you before an unexpected acapella gospel line ending.

‘Got What I Need’ is another funky rocker on which she adds a shriller timbre over the rhythm section’s relentless drive, while Eder’s adds a resolving fiery guitar solo.

The album is built on a unity of purpose in which Olinder’s Hammond playing is the corner stone of the album, as he moves from earthy fills to strident solos which cement an enveloping wall of sound.

By contrast, ‘I Am What I Am’, is an object lesson in balladic restraint, as Eder’s singular guitar line mellifluously wraps its way round the evocative lyrics: “Crystal water running down my spine, chilling me down to the bone.”

And while Manou sings “It takes a lifetime to know who we are,” it certainly doesn’t apply to the band’s hard hitting attack.

The sledgehammer groove of ‘Six Times Gone’ for example, features a big vocal block on the chorus and a tension breaking guitar solo, while ‘Drifting’ is full of subtle dynamics and a chanted hook.

Listen also to the unlikely, but wholly convincing rock-gospel melange on the ethereal ‘Sacred Heart’. It features some interesting chords and a full blown choir over a pulsating bass line, leading into an eclectic lyric: “tired of carrying the pain like a hidden tattoo,” as Eder’s whammy bar dexterity fattens out one of the best solos on the album.

Manou’s indulges herself with some in Sprechgesang on the rugged prosody of ‘I’ll Keep On Moving’, which perfectly matches the lyrics: “The jagged edges cutting to my skin, and make me suffer.”

The noirish feel of their material is carried over into ‘Broken Wings Of Hope’. A slow building muscular rocker, it’s full of edgy guitar and pounding drums, while Manou’s passionate phrasing is counterweighted by a cool flowing Hammond break and Eder’s interwoven solo into chorus.

Such is the quality of the band’s own challenging material that the closing cover of the Clapton /Cray co-write ‘Old Love’ feels like a low key finish to a ground breaking album.

Contemporary rock is in safe hands. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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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

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)