Frontiers [Release date : 23.09.23]
Nitrate’s founding member and bassist, Nick Hogg has again opted for vocalist Alexander Strandell and the Martin (Vega) brothers (who also produce) to round out the band on his latest, (and fourth) album, Feel The Heat.
Factor in backing vocals by Issa and Paul (Danger Danger/Dark Horse) Laine, and we expect big things.
The Martins’ new reliance, not just on synthesizers, but on a musical framework dependent on them, sees them layering everything over a bed of synth frills and fills. At first this seems innovative.
The clean poprock lines and Eighties’ New Wave tendencies of opening and title track, ‘Feel The Heat’ confirm that. In fact it shows some resemblance to Glenn Frey’s similarly titled 1984 hit ‘The Heat Goes On’. You can imagine a shimmering remix filling nightclub dance floors everywhere.
But it comes unstuck on the big ballad, ‘One Kiss’. There’s little trace of warmth or originality. It’s more of an eighties’ rock parody than a fresh spin on an old sound.
The ground lost is regained by the finely crafted melodic rock of ‘All The Right Moves’. It comes with the lyrics to match, more in the vein of the pop flavoured AOR of a band like HEAT.
‘Needs a Little Love’ gets closest to the “influenced by Journey” claim, stretching a dramatic slice of AOR into the torch song zone. The soaring vocals are Strandell at his best.
‘Haven’t Got Time For A Heartache’ switches genre to classic rock, gilding Led Zepellin riffage with an anthemic, AOR chorus. And then there’s the carefully crafted ‘Satellite’, recalling John Waite and Heart at their chart climbing best. These two classy tracks merge Hogg’s AOR ambitions with the Martins’ cutting-edge sonics and pop smarts.
In doing so, they make this album truly come alive. ***
Review by Brian McGowan
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