Laurence Jones is one of Britain’s hottest guitar talents and at 23 he is now releasing his third album of electric Blues/Rock.
He has recently been touring with the mighty King King, was picked to represent Britain at the European Blues Challenge and will be playing at the Lead Belly fest in June with his mentor and friend Walter Trout – all in all the future is so bright it is blinding.
Detractors might say that there are plenty of Blues guitarists both in the UK and Europe but that would miss his rare talents – he plays, he sings and he writes good songs – and the fact that he is invigorating the scene with his playing and a lovely demeanour that invites the audience to like and enjoy him.
As to this album? He has developed as a songwriter and as a guitarist in the last couple of years and his playing is positively electrifying while the songs have a touch of funk alongside great riffs and melodies. Opening with the title track he kicks off with a belting riff straight off – one of those that has you nodding with the band from note 1 – with Roger Inniss bass throbbing and fluid and drummer Miri Miettinen powering the rhythm along like a sledgehammer.
Jones wrote 10 of the eleven numbers here and they really do show his class as a songwriter but the class of Roger Inniss as co-producer definitely helps bring the songs to life and the result is three dimensional music full of vim and pizzazz, not exactly swaggering but positive and assertive – the boy has come of age. His duet with Sandi Thom on the ballad ‘Don’t Look Back’ is sweet and has some heat in her vocals while the other duet, with Dana Fuchs, on a cover of Bad Company’s ‘Can’t Get Enough’ is tasty enough but Fuchs gritty, dirty vocals overshadow Jones – his guitar solo is damn fine though.
My favourite numbers on the album are ‘Evil’ and ‘Touch Your Moonlight’, both showing the band cooking with gas and doing what they do best; rocking the joint.
This definitely feels like a talent that has matured and is ready to explode. A smashing album and one that bears repeated listens.
