Album review: FM- Brotherhood
Frontiers Records (Release Date 05.09.25)
You can set your watch by the fact that FM will release a new album every other year since 2018, no mean feat considering they seem to be perpetually on tour.
Given that the live set is always at least 50% drawn from their classic first two albums, there are always a few who clamour for an ‘Indiscreet’ part 2, but it ain’t going to happen- the band are beyond the stage of needing to prove anything and can follow their instincts. As with most of its predecessors since they reformed, there are enough moments on the album where they hark back to that mainstream AOR sound but increasingly they will also push the envelope a bit further and this is no exception.
Actually, opener ‘Do You Mean It’ is one of the few songs on the album that echoes the bluesier direction the original band took in the early nineties. Indeed some female backing vocals and an organ solo from Jem Davis that swiftly leads into some bluesy solos from Jim Kirkpatrick give it a little of an Americanised R’n’B feel.
‘Living On the Run’ is the first of the more conventional melodic rock numbers, with a slight difference as Jim’s guitar refrain continues in the background on the chorus, while there is a brief harmony guitar break. ‘Coming For You’ has even more of an eighties retro feel in the keys and even drums, but actually reminds me more of the Overland Brothers pre- FM band Wildlife. The chorus is prominent, indeed repeated over and over again to its conclusion.
‘Raised On the Wrong Side’ is a little bluesier with some more muscular guitar work, but in contrast ‘Love Comes to All’ has an upbeat and sunny feel, acoustically driven (was that a mandolin I could pick out?) and again rather American sounding.
The first real left turn is ‘Just Walk Away’, a slow, dreamy number clocking in at over six minutes, with Spanish guitar and a mass of almost choral-like backing vocals. I’ m afraid it was a mellow step too far outside the box for me.
‘Don’t Call It Love’, chosen as the lead off single, is a more conventional melodic rocker with big backing vocals, and closest to the sound of those two debut albums. ‘Time Waits For No-One’, which sports a classic keyboard intro followed by one of Steve Overland’s trademark ‘who-oah’s that he actually uses sparingly this time, is breezy and uptempo, with an AOR-tastic bridge where a fine solo from Jim is followed by Jem’s keyboards coming back in and a twin guitar lead on the outro.
From then on the album explores different sounds. There are a relatively laid back pair of songs in ‘Because of You’ which is a grower and sports lush instrumentation and some interesting keyboard textures, and ‘Chasing Freedom’, a pleasant diversion into southern-styled country rock, still with excellent guitar work and an unexpected piano solo as the song fades.
But the biggest stylistic departure is saved to last for ‘The Enemy Within’ where the musical backing is unlike anything FM have recorded and is closer to that found in the world of indie pop and rock. Steve has probably not attempted anything so ‘modern’ since the second The Ladder album, yet his vocals are as superb as ever, and combined with a wah-wah solo from Jim, make this an unusual if enjoyable number.
The instant verdict is that the album has a little more of an edge than its predecessor ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ and for me it is their most consistent since the late 2010’s pair of ‘Heroes and Villains’ and ‘Atomic Generation’.
As one of the leaders of a movement often decried for being formulaic, FM have achieved the rare feat of keeping the listener on their toes with some unpredictable turns while staying true to their core melodic rock values. **** 1/4
Review by Andy Nathan
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