I had reviewed the penultimate album of 'Tony Mitchell', 'Church of a Restless Soul' dating from 2020 and since then the Englishman has released a new studio recording in 2021, 'Hot Endless Summer Nights' and late 2022 saw the release of 'Tales From The Christmas Inn' dedicated to Christmas. With always the same line up, he offers us 12 new original compositions and, from the start, with 'Blue Lighting', the resemblance to 'Bruce Springsteen' that I had highlighted with the penultimate album seems to me even more obvious at the melodic level. We also find this similarity in other melodic hits and we can mention the title song 'Radio Heartbeat' (see the video above) or 'Another Beat Of My Heart' or 'Sunflower Girl'. In a style of more rock titles with addictive melodies, we are also spoiled with the fast 'Keep The Live Alive' or the rhythmic 'Rockin In A Hard Place' and 'This Side Of Midnight' or the catchy 'Darkness Remains' or even 'Phoenix Rising' which closes the album in a beautiful way with a last energetic title. Side calmer atmospheres, 'Top Of The World', cut in two parts offers a magnificent refined first half which then gains momentum on a memorable melody, then, 'Find A Way' is the ballad of the album, very classic but so effective that we are still taken under the spell of this magnificent title.
In summary, 'Tony Mitchell' offers us a new melodic album in the continuity of these previous productions and continues to perpetuate a melodic rock that takes us back to the best of the 80s, which makes 'Radio Heartbeat' a serious contender for the podium of albums of this style for the year 2023... | |
