Rival Sons – Darkfighter

 

Rival Sons – Darkfighter
Atlantic / Warner – 2023
Rock, Hard, Blues, Seventies
Rated: ****

The eight tracks on the new Rival Sons album Darkfighter will be followed up this year with another release called Lightbringer. The duo of records are the result of all the hard work the band put in during the pandemic. In fact, they’re the first albums they wrote outside of the studio, sending pieces back and forth and writing about all they experienced and saw while the world was spiraling through the lockdowns and twisting through all the cultural division in their home country. They’ve always been on our radar but some reason we only ever mentioned their 2016 album Hollow Bones. Al lot of atrabilious and melancholy songs about loss and darkness, wolves at the door and death calling. Only a couple of more hopeful songs are allowed to shine their light on Darkfighter. But really shining, are the compositions, the guitar work and of course, as always the case with vocalist Jay Buchanan, the vocals. Recorded by Dave Cobb in Nashville, Rival Sons manages to glow most whenever their hardrock is allowed to go off into whatever territory they want. The slower, still soulful, tracks lack a bit of urgency and sparkle. Bright Light for instance just sort of meanders on, perfect for a moment of rest but, when you know there are also tracks like closing track Darkside on the album, you will surely be listening to that side more. With acoustic parts, the beastly groove that offsets it, turning every dynamic rabbit out of every rocking magic hat, Darkside is one of the highlights on an amazing album. And even though there is darkness and melancholy here, you can feel the positive message that seems to be surging underneath and when that final Darkside tracks slowly dies away, it will leave you with a feeling of hope and gratitude. Thank you Rival Sons.

(Written by JK)

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