Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Arthur Joyce |
Jeff Martin is one of those rare rock musicians gifted with an almost classical sense of composition. Since his earliest days with the Tea Party in the ’90s he has understood how to build the dynamics of a song. From controlled fury or creeping melancholy to sweet melodic uplifts and back again to bone-crunching crescendos, his songs redefine the term majestic. And with his new album The Ground Cries Out, Martin is riding a new powerhouse in the band 777.
Martin’s Aussie bandmates J Cortez and Malcolm Clark on bass and drums respectively are easily equal to the task. Together they have equaled if not surpassed the glory days of The Tea Party – no small order. To see Martin and 777 perform live – the band is currently touring Canada – is to see the most powerful and precise drumming since Zeppelin’s legendary John Bonham. On The Ground Cries Out Clark establishes himself firmly in virtuoso territory, embroidering Martin’s soaring, careening songs with inventive, intricate percussion lines.
And then we have J Cortez, whose bass lines are beautifully crisp yet never staccato. This is one fine bass player whose work isn’t buried in the mix, thankfully. On the new album Cortez earns virtuoso credentials by adding keyboards, Cambodian tro, santoor, slide guitar, mandolin and dobro to the songs.
Martin has said that Cortez and Clark made this album a joy to record, and it shows. While the spine-tingling grandeur of The Tea Party’s classic Edges of Twilight is still there in songs like ‘The Ground Cries Out,’ ‘The Cobra,’ ‘Santeria’ and ‘The Pyre,’ there are many lighter shades here too. The ease with which Martin can turn a catchy guitar phrase is amply demonstrated in cuts like ‘Queen of Spades,’ ’1916′ and ‘Riverboat Rambler,’ all ably demonstrating his penchant for foundational blues. Songs like ‘She’s Leaving’ and ‘One Star in Sight’ show Martin’s expert hand for arranging although somewhat less convincing as ballads.
If anything, Martin’s ability to incorporate alluring Middle Eastern musical mantras has only become more subtle and sophisticated since his Tea Party days. As always, his wide readings in esoteric philosophy, poetry and literature are studded like gems throughout the lyrics. The result is an album that is wide-ranging yet consistent, powerful yet tender and ultimately a major accomplishment.
