There was also several other great possibilities for the new album of the month spot. I’m very much into The Lieblings album and I’m more than just a little obsessed with the upcoming Marine Dreams album. But then there’s a new Austin Lucas album and in the end, the choice is rather easy. I love this guy. His two previous albums Somebody Loves You and A New Home In The Old World are very dear to me and the new release, Stay Reckless is probably his finest album to date. Absolutely fantastic from the get-go to the last note. A great blend of americana, country and rock’n’roll. I suppose some country purists might struggle with this, because at times Stay Reckless might be closer to Hüsker Dü than Willie Nelson. Ok, that namedropping got more than a little out of hand. On a more serious note, whether it’s blast of countrified rock’n’roll or a beautiful country ballad, Austin nails it perfectly each time. This time Austin also had one of the best bands in the world as his backing band in the studio. Austin Lucas with Glossary. That collaboration was a match made in rock’n’roll heaven. This is Alone in Memphis from the amazing new Austin Lucas album that just came out on New West Records.

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Austin Lucas Website

The Heavy Blinkers and Health. I’ve waited this for a long time. The Heavy Blinkers and their album The Night and I Are Still So Young meant the world to me back in 2004. During the next few years I red about the first stages of making the follow-up, Health. Then years went by and the talk of The Heavy Blinkers and their massive and epic album Health started to fade away. At some point, I assumed that I won’t ever have the chance to actually hear it, but thankfully I was wrong. Health was officially released on 30th of July.

With that kind of background, the album has a certain mythical element surrounding it. At least in my overly romanticized mind. Therefore I was both excited and scared to hear it. What if I don’t actually like it at all? The expectations were ridiculously high and even unfair. Nothing less than a perfect pop album would feel like a disappointment. Also the facts were these. Health was going to be highly ambitious and fully orchestrated concept album and if you are regular reader you know that I usually prefer simple three minute pop song or beautiful folk song played on acoustic guitar. Other than the love I had for The Heavy Blinkers and their harmonic pop music, the odds weren’t actually on their favor.

When the first outtake Perfect Tourists arrived all the worries drifted away. This was The Heavy Blinkers I fell in love with and actually it could well have been an outtake from The Night and I Are Still So Young. Certainly a perfect piece of pop music on all accounts. After that it was a lot easier to prepare myself for the first listening session of the full album. But it is fair to say that the whole thing wasn’t as easy to digest as Perfect Tourists. A steady flow of magical orchestrated pop music, but individual songs (other than Child of The Radio) didn’t really stand out from the beautifully dressed crowd. This proved to be a rather minor worry, because it didn’t took me more than a couple of spins to fall in love with this record. In some sense the songs still don’t really stand up from the crowd. Of course songs like God Bless Hazel and Why Must Your Hide Your Light? would win any kind of song contest, but Health really works best as a whole album. I just completely lose the track of time and place while listening to this. Magical moments follow each other. The arrangements and the orchestration is gorgeous throughout the record. Jason Michael MacIsaac is a true pop wizard. In lesser hands, this album could have turn out to be just a mess. And the vocals. Oh my. So beautiful. Wonderful Jenn Grant does most of the lead vocals. Her solo albums are also worth investigating. I should do that myself as well (only have the first two). If you didn’t guess it already, this is a five hearts album and a strong contender for the album of the year award.

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The Heavy Blinkers Website