UK Rock Royalty GINGER WILDHEART returns with new Long Player ALBION

Two years on from the crowd funded “100%” Ginger returns with an album that showcases his every angle and bridges the mans entire evolution of sound in one pretty radical release…

I was blown somewhat away and open mouthed in aw at Gingers last release, the groundbreaking, record breaking and breathtaking 100% - an album that sounded like a man taking his career by the horns, knocking it out and cooking it on high heat to invent something new and diabolous and brilliant. 100% was easy pickings for me for BEST OF THE YEAR lists and was one of those albums that took me completely by surprise and drove me screaming to everyone I knew who would listen and threw copies in their faces to spread the joy. So it is with butterflies in my belly I open the post and see a copy of ALBION, the rusted hair legends new album, and immediately I smile like a man possessed. Ginger has remained something of an exalted cornerstone of the UK rock scene for 20 odd years – between WILDHEART, SILVER GINGER 5 and his solo work he has reinvented his own legend in numerous ways and numerous sounds, yet he is always “GINGER” no more or less, just a happy-go-lucky Geordie who is spreading his music into the ether and hoping the reaction is a good one. More often than not (99% of the time, I’d say) he smashes it out the park, on the odd 1% it is usually still a million times or so better than any other artist out there. The guy sweats class. So it is that
ALBION his new studio album, where he returns with the WILDHEART moniker post his first name, is a class acts of some standard. The album bridges every sound and style that has existed in Gingers career – rock’n’roll it is, but with elements of jagged edged punk rock, techno-dotted epics mingle with surf rock sounding ballads with the acoustic tinged pure alt-rock, there is a sound for every kind of fan – be it old or new. Whether you are listening to album opener
DRIVE – with its poppy chorus and irregular time changes, where the lyrics are as inspiring and yet simple as the songs message, or in the brilliant and surf-rock infused
BODY PARTS, which also channels Beatles rock moments, like a WHITE ALBUM b-side, or through to album closer
ALBION which is epic in length and ends with a lo-fi acoustic coda, but manages to be heavy and easy listening all at once. There is nary a bad song on here, as is often the case. ALBION is fizzing with life, energy and Joie De Vivre and has been on near constant repeat since I pressed play the first time. Production wise it is sparse and simple, but when it pops it pops hard and when it needs zing it is like a million, million lemons being fired into your face at once. it zings with the subtlety of an elephant in a rage in a Swarovski store. Its elegant, messy, jagged and pure all at the same time… Perfect? No. But its Ginger, you don’t come in for perfect, you come in for pop and zing and that feeling of inescapable childhood and the joy of spring in musical form coolly injected mainline into your heart. Get it, put it on and welcome summer into your life, Gingerstyle. Good to have you back, again, Mr Wildheart. 8/10  

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