Curse of Lono

I guess that you would put this in the ‘Americana’ basket but really, it doesn’t begin to cover the band’s music.

The darkness in their sound is almost palpable. On opener ‘5 Miles High’ Joe Hazell’s guitar line is almost a drone as the track descends through the layers, Felix Bechtolsheimer’s vocals soft and insistent, behind the music in the mix, before the track ‘lands’ and leads into the more conventional ‘Pick Up The Pieces but again, that dark guitar and a great sense of space around the vocals, Neil Findlay’s drums just keeping the grove moving.

They can do soft and heartfelt as well. ‘Each Time You Hurt’ could have been hard and angular but here the song is all about support and kindness – a drone and gently picked guitar just emphasising the soft and tender vocals.
‘Just My Head’ is almost folksy – never a better description of a hangover and then into ‘London Rain’ sitting somewhere between Alabama 3 and Rolling Stones, an exquisite evocation of a drive into the city featuring stunning keyboards from Dani Ruiz Hernandez.

The band are all excellent players but this is really all about the songs and across the board the songs are superb; little pictures of mood or feelings with the playing serving to carry the songs and not get in the way.

Curse Of Lono are a bright spark in the musical firmament and this album shows that there is real quality away from the mainstream forms.