At a regular pace of one album each year (only the year 2020 did not see a studio recording release), the multi-instrumentalist and singer 'Joe Bailey' continues to offer us very good opuses but while remaining still very discreet on the web. I discovered it with the album 'A Price to Pay' in 2019 which was followed by 'Ghosts' in 2021 and from 'Devil in the White City' in 2022. Musically, this new album 'Splinters' is in the stylistic continuity of the previous opus and we find an alternation between flirting compositions with hard rock and other calmer ones, the whole being even more bathed in synthesized keyboard sounds.
'Full Frontal Eulogy' opens the ball and is a good example of what to expect on the album, with a preponderance of electronic sounds, the catchy melodic lines bringing immediate accessibility and the vocals of 'Joe Bailey' fitting very well with this synthetic atmosphere. Follows 'Matricide' which begins with a few guitar riffs and which then approaches the atmosphere of the previous track, with the addition of rhythmic breaks and intensity with quieter verses, then, 'I, Myself and Me' is a very catchy composition with electronic sounds taking us back to the 80s. First calmer moment with 'The Long Haul' which, at a slow tempo, unfolds a beautiful melody, then, always accompanied by synthesized effects, 'I Am The Enemy' continues with a catchy mid-tempo and 'SLUG' shows a more tormented face with a swaying rhythm, the vocal parts being rapped. With 'Time is Killing Me', we continue with an energetic and catchy title with some welcome rhythmic breaks and a catchy chorus, then, 'Salt in Our Wounds' moderates the ardor by starting in the form of a ballad to accelerate the pace for a new composition with catchy melodic lines, and the album ends with the very beautiful ballad 'No Man's Land' which offers a final remarkable vocal performance from 'Joe Bailey'.
In summary, this latest album by 'Joe Bailey' is certainly less progressive than the previous one by putting more emphasis on synthesizers which can recall the 80s which means that 'Splinters' should please all those who love accessible melodies with electronic sounds... | |
