Independent (label)
18 October 2019 (released)
24 September 2019
A new album from Jack J Hutchinson, his second in 2 years, is almost bound to grab my attention and grab it, it has.
Hutchinson originally hails from Burnley although he has been resident in the south for a good few years but he still has the soul of a northern hard rocker in his music and ‘Who Feeds The Wolf’ has that in spades.
He describes it: “It’s an angry record. The shit has really hit the fan and we are in a bit of a mess, both politically and
environmentally.
I guess my response has been to plug in my Marshall stack and turn everything up to 11!!”
You can feel the anger in the music but tempered with something else, a feeling that there may be a chance to fix it, it isn’t all totally broken – yet.
The album was written during a period of personal problems and the catharsis of writing his most personal music to date comes through strongly but like all fine musicians he manages to make the personal universal and there is nothing here that you cannot properly relate to.
‘Haunted Bones’ really strikes home with a sense of inchoate anger set against a massive riff and vaulting harmonies and driven by a powerful beat and bassline; it may be about the loss of his father but the feelings it evokes are those of anyone who has lost someone close to them.
The playing on the album is excellent. Hutchinson has a real skill with a guitar and his vocals are as good whether he is singing hard or lifting his vocals to really carry emotion. His band – also his touring band – are Lazarus Michaelides on bass, Felipe Amorim on
drums, and Alberto Manuzzi on keys. All three are accomplished session and touring musicians and they provide the standard of backing that Hutchinson really needs behind him.
Tony Perretta produced last year’s album ‘Paint No Fiction’ as well as this one and creates a close and tight sound that occasionally explodes into massive life.
I have listened through the album a fair number of times and I really cannot find a weak number here. There are a lot of highlights such as ‘Kiss Your Ass Goodbye’ and the riff laden ‘Roll Another One’ but the top track, for me, is probably ‘Autumn Leaves’. The most subtle song on the album, and the most heartfelt – I’m a sucker for a top rock ballad and this really hits the mark.
It’s a fine album, a great selection of songs and I can’t wait to see it played live. Jack Hutchinson is a real star in the making and this one takes him a lot closer to the top.
