Provogue / Artone Label Group [Release date : 25.09.26]

‘Shine’ admirably lives up to its name. It’s taut, precise, fluid, balanced and represents honest emotive guitar-driven music from the heart.

It’s a marvellous album, full of deep grooves, sculpted tones and Richard Watt’s soulful vocals.

It’s also an album on which Robin Trower successfully finds 10 related musical contexts in which to shine (pun intended).

He gleefully digs deep to elucidate emotion through meticulously arranged guitar parts, with related lyrical themes.

What gives this album a sense of forward motion is the attention to detail to be found in his exquisite playing and musical interplay, albeit it’s quite often Trower himself who doubles on bass.

So while the album retains an essential organic feel, it’s not so much the glorious sum of face-to-face playing, as the triumph of the trio’s mutual interpretive skills which connect with what Trower is trying to achieve.

And while there’s never a de facto over arching vision, it’s a beguiling piece of work which offers snap shots of his on-going creativity.

The opening track ‘The Missing Piece’ is an exemplar of what the album does so well, immersing us in a drone filled groove, powered by Chris Taggart’s crisp percussive drive and topped by Richard Watts intuitive vocal phrasing and Trower’s own gnawing guitar tone.

His short solos busts sound like conversational extensions, in which the very deliberately played notes convey so much.

The beautifully crafted title track stretches out the groove, leaving the dreamy solo to lift a song which probably finishes too soon.

As always, it’s Trower’s meticulous use of tone which gives the songs their personality.

Listen for example, to the noticeably thinner tone on the jangle of ‘Love By Any Other Name’, a track which owes much to his keen sense of dynamics.

He builds a tension punctuated by power chords, and resolves bit with a dreamy big toned solo that could only be Robin Trower.

He has the vision and delicate touch of a painter working a big canvas, particularly on ‘Driving On Through’, which is a hypnotic groove with an insistent riff, interwoven guitar flurries, and a final flinty guitar solo.

He also makes good use of his sequencing to ensure that the album draws us in and flows on the back of his tonal array.

Put simply, if a painter’s more elaborate brush strokes control the volume of paint, in Trower’s hands the use of a guitar volume and the resultant tone defines the level of emotion in a song.

That said, he almost shocks us with a female vocal on ‘Truth’, a track which gives the album some startling contrast and a lighter touch.

But it is the combination his musical depth, feel and some enquiring lyrics that give the album an almost mystical feel.

Vocalist Richard Watts is particularly good on ‘Faith’, on which he conveys the essential feel of lines such as: “You had faith that love would find its rightful place.”

His soulful vocal perfectly fits the brooding big toned solo, in which each note conveys a rich spectrum of emotion.

He also shows his flexibility on the riff driven single ‘Live Your Time’, as he successfully tackles the slightly rushed phrasing of a hook which intentionally or otherwise, seems to illuminate the message of living for the moment.

“Change is gonna come, no need to worry your mind,
Learn to love yourself and live your time
Gotta live your time.”

Indeed, his ad-libbed “Yeah, live your time”, also sounds like a rallying call for job well done.

‘Shine’ is an album that demands repeated listening. Trower conjures up a rainbow of sharp riffs, aching tones and pregnant hovering notes which despite barely having time to decay, stay in our subconscious.

‘The Race’ is arguably his tightest arranged guitar piece, moving from a repeated wah-wah intro through contrasting smooth toned guitar lines.

Watts’s whispered vocal is only slightly blemished by lack of clear diction on a song with a lyrical philosophical feel.

It incorporates a gentle guitar part, more wah-wah, and some spiky lyrics: “Some twisted words are made up, to control or confuse, only the ones that’s afraid of, all the answers we might choose.”

‘Without You’ is a slightly heavier groove and again provides a good example of how Trower can make his music mirror his lyrical intent, or vice versa.

The hook is ushered in quickly, as if to mirror the clipped musical feel and lyrical sense of loss:

“My love is on repeat, feeling in complete without you, without you.”

The intense solo has a nicely aching distorted sound, a case of musical colour bringing additional feel.

On the closing ‘It’s Not Time’ he tips his hat back to his early 70’s ethereal feel.

Almost a song in two parts, Watt’s cool vocal gives way to Trower’s aching riffs which pulls us deeper into his patented musical labyrinth, and one you won’t be in a hurry to leave.

Robin Trower’s ‘Shine’ is not a perfect album, but given the levels of creativity of this indefatigable octogenarian with a timeless tone, it’s one of the best of the year.

****½

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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VELVETEEN QUEEN Too Far Gone (Silver Lining Music)
SESAME GIRL Prettiest Girl In The World (indie)

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