Album Review

Roddy Hart And The Lonesome Fire – Roddy Hart And The Lonesome Fire

• 2nd Sep 2013

Roddy Hart is well known in Scottish music circles as a singer/ songwriter with three studio albums to his credit, producer, curator and radio presenter. He has worked with many well known artists and has also, among many other things, written and performed musical versions of Burns poems. This is his first full band album, recorded in Glasgow and London, and Hart recruited some heavyweight help in the endeavour. The album was produced by Danton Supple (Coldplay, Morrisey) and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, The Killers).

Hart is a fine songwriter and this collection of twelve new tracks demonstrates that ably. His vocals are deep and resonant, and he makes the move from solo singer to band frontman well. Musically, a lot of the album has a Big Country feel, a Celtic rock meets Americana sound that features big guitars, soaring vocals and anthemic chant along choruses. But there are also more restrained and melodic tracks that allow Hart’s vocals room to expand and these evocative songs work very well

The anthemic Days Are Numbered opens the album, quickly hitting a fast pace, uplifting and basically a solid rock song. The vocals are great over an atmospheric keyboard sound allied to some good guitar work. The single Cold City Avalanche has a similar feel with a slightly slower tempo. Here Hart shows his vocal range with a higher pitched chorus in a song that has a fine guitar solo. Ghost Of Life, with the keyboards again prominent, continues the trend.

The Big Jump is slower and Hart’s vocals stand out over a big sound with piano, organ and guitar combining. At just a minute and a half long it is almost an interlude rather than a song. Bright Line Fever immediately raises the pace again, buzzing guitars and fast vocals combining in one of the album’s highlights. The slower High Hopes also stands out, a simple melody and a subdued drum beat allowing Hart to shine with his best vocal performance.

The next three tracks are very similar: fast paced and solid without ever being spectacular. Queenstown has an almost cinematic scope, while Bad Blood is based around lively guitar with big riffs and Not Nervous Anymore features a simple piano melody, although the repetition of the title is a little overdone.

But the ending is very strong, with three excellent slower tracks giving yet another slant to the music. The folk sounding Tree Of Darkness is quite lovely, an acoustic melody backing passionate vocals. It only lasts for just over a minute, which is a real shame. And the love song Forget Me Not is also very good, initially piano led and delicate before building into a fervent rock song. The album closes with another fine slower track, In My Dreams (I’m Always Losing), which is downbeat without ever becoming depressing. It’s emotional and gives a big ending that the album deserves.

These twelve songs show a great deal of musical variety, demonstrating the many talents of Roddy Hart rather nicely. He can do the big guitar rockers, but also tackle ballads with equally good results. There are some familiar sounding moments, but also a freshness that marks this as an album worthy of note. In short: high quality songs done well.

Venue: Roddy Hart And The Lonesome Fire
Support Band: The Orchard