Inouie [Release date : 13.03.25]

It’s temping to use phrases like ‘Back to the 70’s’, for a band who unashamedly draw on influences such as Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin.

They also who have singer who is the equal of say Beth Hart, Pat Benatar, Dana Fuchs, Babe Ruth’s Jenny Haan, Elkie Brooks and inevitably Janis Joplin.

But that would be to miss the point, because for all their retro antecedents, this is a hard driving French rock band whose own material uses the past as raw rock energy to fuel something new and exciting.

‘The Sky’s The Limit’ is a perfect debut album, introducing us to Fabrice Dutour and Michaal Benjelloun’s twin guitar-led arrangements and Vanessa Di Mauro’s incendiary phrasing and eloquent lyrics.

It’s an album built from the ground up, with an inventive rhythm section, topped by interwoven guitars and stylish solos, all glued together by a well sequenced album which forges an energetic flow.

Listen for example, to the uplifting ‘What You’re Told’, on which the double guitar break reaches for the epic.

Then there’s the unexpected shift to slide guitar on the Southern rock influenced ‘When There’s A Will, There’s A Way’, which illustrates their musical versatility.

‘The Sky’s The Limit’ is an aptly titled album, because though there are a raft of recycled 70’s influences, Emerald Moon triumph with their own memorable songs.

For example, there’s the raw rocking intensity of the opening ‘Rock N’ Roll Soul’, the stuttering rhythms of which remind me of later Rush and subliminally of Zeppelin, topped by a magnificent vocal, while the angular riff-driven ‘Bad Moon’ is the kind of signature song that marks the band out as special.

The bluesy ‘Worry’ is a vocal showcase full of contrasting passion and restraint, the very kind of duality that gives the band its cool dynamics.

They are equally good in acoustic mode on the lyrically poetic and double tracked vocals of ‘Shrinking Violet (Part 1)’ and the meditative ‘Hummingbird Waiting For You’, which gives the album the perfect book-end.

In between those two tracks, it’s back to some stop-start harmony riffing on the feverish ‘Show Me Your Colours Part 2’ and the Purple inspired rhythms of ‘Devil Woman’ with its stop-time vocal.

Everything comes together fluidly on the hard riffing title track. It somehow fuses early 70’s riffs with 90’s stuttering Rush rhythms, jangling guitar tones and belated Thin Lizzy harmony guitars, with a climactic vocal block.

This sparkling 12 track album updates timeless musical antecedents, while spawning a new vocal star in Vanessa Di Mauro. *****

The Sky’s The Limit Tour 2025’

Self release [Release date : 03.03.26]

What to do after you’ve cut an excellent debut album?

Obvious really, you play catch-up for those people who were late to the party, and cut a live ‘warts and all’ album in front of a supportive intimate crowd.

The result is everything the band presumably wanted to achieve, as you get what it says on the tin.

I many ways this live album is a real time extension of their live organic feel which captures Vanessa Di Mauro’s vocal spontaneity and the band’s musical intensity.

All those elements gloriously combine to make this album a real visceral experience.

The opening crescendo of ‘Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way’ announces a celebratory album, dominated by Di Mauro vocals and bolstered by intuitive band interplay, with supportive slide and steely licks.

They open and close the rocking ‘What You’re Told, with a thrilling twin guitar attack, on a song which they coolly rebuild to a sudden finish, surprisingly denuded of a suitable audience response.

No matter, the hard riffing ‘Bad Moon’ restores the intensity, and they connect with the crowd on a bone shaking version of Zeppelin’s ‘Ramble On’.

It’s built on a well crafted percussive pattern, gently strummed rhythm guitar and explosive vocal, with a harmony guitar break that is everything the song demands.

Their own ‘On & On’ evokes Thin Lizzy, especially on the guitar jousting outro, while Vanessa provides another intense highlight on the edgy ‘Worry, climaxing the song with the exclamatory line: “Look at the state I’m in”.

There’s a crowd pleasing cover ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ and a chunky mid-tempo, self penned ‘Cruel To Be Kind’, which you could imagine Glenn Hughes covering.

They light the litmus paper with a raucous slide-led ‘Stay With Me’ which again ignites the crowd.

And though they have to recalibrate momentarily on the booming ‘The Sky’s The limit’, they hit home base with a disguised opening to Tina Turner’s ‘Nutbush City Limits’ which rocks hard and slips into a ‘call and response’ routine.

The closing version of Zeppelin ‘Rock & Roll’ restates the band’s credo, though initially it feels slightly light, as the guitars are mixed slightly too far back, but drummer Laurent Falso’s unrelenting drive and Di Mauro’s voice tears the song to pieces.

They came to rock and they don’t disappoint. *****

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

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Upcoming sessions:

April 12

Josh Taerk - Sunday Session - 12 April 2026

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 15 February 2026.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 17 February 2026

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Power Plays w/c 2 March 2026

DODGY – It’s Not The End (Flip Flop Records)
THE SKBs – Hour Glass (indie)
LAKE – Boy On A Mission (indie)
KING FALCON Holding Out (indie)
HOKKA Heart Said No (Nuclear Blast Records)
STARBENDERS The Beast Goes On (Sumerian Records)
EDDIE AND THE WOLVES See Me Fall (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 2 March 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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