Rod Pinn’s album “Breez” runs to 10 songs, just over 42 minutes.
I knew very little about the artist. I believe he is London based and I know he writes all the tracks on the album alongside Vic Martin. Unusually, Benny sent me very little information other than the album itself, so the review is almost straight into the music. I do know that Rod Pinn was part of the RGP Blues band and that Rod Pinn is known as a blues musician. Of course, that snippet of knowledge is not enough to tell what may await on the album. The cover picture is of a smooth kind of guy in shades; my one publicity shot was of him standing in some ruins looking kind of good, actually. Even my usual places of research, You Tube, Spotify, etc told me almost nothing about the artist, so I was left with the music only from this man of mystery.
So I literally got the album fired over for a listen. I sat down on the sofa after an evening spent chasing around with domestic chores and wondered what my headphones were about to deliver! I think I expected a form of bluesy rock; that’s not exactly what I found!
My review.
“A Cover Up” opens up in a bright, light-pop, coffeehouse feel. The vocals have a breezy Radio 2 feeling about them and it gets the album moving to a positive groove.
“After Dark” moves with a nice rhythm, a bit of dance in the mix. Again, we are in melodic Radio 2 territory: slick musicianship, nicely produced and harmonised vocals.
“Coffee in Paris” was interesting. It plays with a double vocal style, spoken word and then a replicated line that is sung. Some interesting lyrical play within too; I liked the ‘whirling dervish’ allusion. If I noted a coffee house feel in the first track, coffee returns here in more ways than one!
- A brief delay as your reviewer heads off for a late-night cup of tea and a Kit-Kat biscuit. I can’t do coffee at night, lol, but all this talk of coffee made me need a drink.
“Earl Grey”*** was good fun. We had a bit of funk put in the mix, a spot of storytelling and a return to that harmony vocal in the chorus section. I liked this one; it has a cream umbrella, and we seem to have moved on to tea, which I prefer anyway! I liked the guitar break and overall, this one would be the one I would want to hear on the radio as I was driving along.
“Night Screen”** hmm…this one has a repeating “Night Screen” vibe to a little melody underpin. I’m not sure about this one, but the seventies-style guitar break added a little salt in the soup.
“Nothing That I Wouldn’t Do” I instantly liked it better than the last track! It almost has a bit of Stevie Wonder somewhere in there; it’s fine without grabbing me; I’m sure it would sound good live, however.
“Rough ‘N’ Ready”* is one that got my attention quickly. It is a rougher track; the keyboards/piano sound linked well and this is a good track. It stands under the rock umbrella, but on the lighter, poppier side, it has an American AOR feel about it.
“Runnin’ Loose” reminded me a bit of the music of Rare Earth, it has a very positive feel about it, quite a cool track.
“Shadowland” I liked. I found a song that had me listening to the lyrics carefully and the vocal delivery was strong too.
“Where Would We Be?” closes the album with some nice funky pop. It was a fine ending that finished on an upbeat.
In summary, let’s ask ourselves if this album successfully squeezes that lemon. It is essentially light pop that introduces a few different shades along the way. The songwriting is crisp, at times (“Earl Grey”) inventive and at times a bit funky. The production is very crisp; it brings out the harmonies and different instruments really well. As a relaxing evening, listen, it works. In fact (next day) I had a couple of my girlie friends round for a coffee while the little ones are in nursery and I put this on in the background; everyone liked it! So there we are…
Standout Tracks: “Earl Grey,” “Rough n ’ Ready,” and “Shadowland.”
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You can stream music by Rod Pinn here
Rod Pinn (Vocals)
Vic Martin (Keyboards/Programming)
Glen Parish (Guitar*)
Chris Booth (Guitar**)
Eric Appapoulay (Guitar***)
All Songs; Rod Pinn/Vic Martin
By Stevie Ritson