Review Deniz Tek - Long Before Day (Career Records, 2022)
Versione Italiana su Freak Out Magazine
Deniz Tek's solo career continues with a certain
regularity and with the proud independence of a musician who has nothing to
prove, given the enormous contribution he made to the history of rock music
with Radio Birdman and with the many other records he has released in a career
spanning more than forty years.
Today, the Ann Arbor guitarist is back with a new
album, 'Long Before Day', for now only available on CD through the American label Career, while the vinyl edition will be released
next autumn by the Italy’s Wild Honey.
Following the not-so-exciting 'Fast Fright'
(Career/Wild Honey, 2019) signed as Deniz Tek & The Godoys, together with
twins Art and Steve Godoy, and the subsequent 'Two To One' (Cleopatra, 2020)
co-written with former Stooges James Williamson, certainly better focused than
its predecessor, there was a certain expectation over this new work, to
understand the 'state of health' running through Tek's songwriting, which today
needs no more to be asked of than to present himself with good songs.
Recorded in Billings, Montana at Bob Brown studios, together with his wife Anne (guitar),
bassist/producer Bob Brown and with the surprising contribution of Keith Streng
of the Fleshtones, on drums and not, as one might have expected, on guitar, the
album consists of thirteen tracks with a sound as varied as it is well made.
The opening track "Taking One For The
Team" is a classic piece by the soloist Tek from the 2000s and can be
traced back to the excellent evidence of albums such as "Detroit"
(Career, 2013), but the surprises begin to arrive from the following
"Ballad Of Chief Joseph", with this beautiful electric ride that
brings to mind records from the distant past such as "Outside" from
the early 90s: "Speak Of Ice" is a magnificent song, among the best
on the record. One of those tracks that push the listener to press the repeat
button gain and again.
The other blues track is the title-song on a
semi-acoustic register that recalls the old Delta bluesmen of the 1920s/30s
both in its use of guitar and harmonica and in Tek's absolutely credible
singing.
In between these two tracks, there is the mid-tempo
ballad 'Home', which can be counted among the most successful pieces on the
album.
This is followed by the 1950s rock'n'roll of 'Truck
And Roll', the soulful 'Ain't Gonna (Stand For That)', the classic
sixties-oriented rock of 'You Cry' and the surprising Paisley Underground
atmospheres of 'Close To You'.
Alongside the evocative acoustic ballad "Mother
Earth", there are two other tracks of absolute value, such as "Rear
View Mirror", which highlights the great work done on the sound of the
guitars, and "1984 Again", another of the album's absolute peaks.
To close the album comes "Where", another
semi-acoustic ballad that lulls the listener in an enveloping manner and puts
the seal on an album that has absolutely no lapses in tone and that surprises
both for its freshness and above all for the high quality of Deniz Tek's
songwriting. Is there anything more to ask from a rock legend?
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