Redfern and Rockfield are a winning combination
In the last year, we've all been hauled up indoors in our slippers, watching Netflix while sipping cocoa, thinking back to the pre-Covid, halcyon days of live music (remember that?)
Fear not. Troy Redfern's latest album will whet your appetite once more for hearty, electrified blues-rock. Even if you don't feel it's safe enough to venture back to live gigs just yet, this album is so pumped, that even on an iPhone the band will sound like they are in your front room.
'The Fire Cosmic' was recorded at the iconic Rockfield Studios and the album is imbued with the raw energy, hunger, headaches, and heartaches of all the classic albums that have been recorded there. Paul ‘Win’ Winstanley does a superb job on the production, keeping things tight and adrenalized, cranking up the live sound, but without losing the subtleties or letting the instruments turn into a mush.
'Scorpio' sets the bar high and sums up the massive sounds, and bluesy tones that follow. 'Waiting For Your Love' has that chugging groove and scuzzy riffs that are reminiscent of sweaty, spit, and sawdust dives with sticky, beer-soaked floors. This is an album that just envelopes you with its sound and never loosens its grip.
Troy Redfern is a beast: his raspy rock voice can raise hell and his incendiary slide playing could tame the devil. Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal appears on the aptly named 'On Fire', which does what it says on the tin and burns up the album's midsection. It's not all full speed ahead, things get funky on 'Lay That Love Down' while 'Saving Grace' opts for a mix of vintage harmonies and 90s indie-style guitars and melody.
The songs on this album have status, they demand your attention; but not just because they have massive melodies and vice-like instrumentation, they are well-crafted stories in an album that has zero filler and is a terrific example of British blues-rock.
Knowing that the album's final moments were recorded on the same piano as 'Bohemian Rhapsody' adds something very special to 'The Fire Cosmic'. It's as if a torch is once again being passed to a new generation. Now's the time to ditch the Horlicks, dust off your old band tees, put on this record and crank it up!