Lee-La Baum, wat een stem! Een kruising tussen Beth Hart en Janice Joplin die gegarandeerd aan je muzikale zieltje blijft kleven. Montreal levert ons deze ijzersterke psychedelic rockband. Duidelijk beïnvloed door de 60's en 70's laat The Damn Truth hun 3e album Now Or Nowhere op de wereld los. Old-school is back!!!
Met This Is Who We Are Now is de toon meteen gezet, een meeslepend ritme en een stem van een godin that's the damned truth! Een power song.
Na een mooie gitaar intro kunnen we alvast meezingen met de sing-along Tomorrow, een rockende love song.
Only Love, soft rock met de duidelijke boodschap fuck the past en kijk uit naar de toekomst.
Aan Lonely hangt er dan weer een verhaal vast. Terwijl hun tourbus in vlammen opgaat staan ze samen "Brother can you hear me? I'm Lonely" te zingen. De fans die reeds van een live optreden konden genieten zullen Lonely zeker kennen. Maar ditmaal geen a capella versie, maar op vraag van Bob Rock herwerkt tot een song met meer diepgang.
Een dromerige sound tijdens Everything Fades, zeker wanneer Lee-La Baum enkele octaven lager zingt bij bepaalde passages om dan weer de hoogte in te schieten.
Damn soms twijfel ik terwijl ik luister naar Fire, is Beth Hart aan het zingen of toch Lee-La Baum. Een krachtig stemgeluid waar je maar niet genoeg van kan krijgen.
Look innocent, bedoelen ze daarmee de uitdrukking van hun gezichten op de cover? Een rockende ballade met pit.
We kunnen alvast genieten van de gitaarsolo in Full On You. Gegarandeerd zit je al mee te zingen als je de song een tweede maal beluisterd.
Als laatste song krijgen we Shot 'Em. Eén van de tragere nummers van dit album, de power zit hier in het refrein. Maar valt hierdoor des te meer op.
Nu of nooit!! The Damned Truth zegt het zelf, dit is het moment om de band te leren kennen. Een vette rock sound, so get ready for the summer!
Releasedatum: 7 mei 2021
Luister
lees
“Now or Nowhere” chronicles the band as they navigate life, love, and everything else in a world gone seemingly upside down and sideways during the past year.
Unable to finish the album with Bob because of COVID-19 restrictions, the band recorded the remaining three songs with help from Juno Award-winning producer Jean Massicotte (Patrick Watson, The Damn Truth) who mixed Everything Fades; and the rest of the mixing was done by Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton), Nick DiDia (Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against The Machine), and Mike Plotnikoff (Van Halen, Cranberries, Three Days Grace). It's worth noting there's 3 Grammy Award winners on this album (Bob Rock, Vance Powell & Nick DiDia). The Damn Truth have extensively toured Europe and the USA, opened tours for ZZ Top (and partied with Billy Gibbons in his pyjamas), the Sheepdogs, Styx, and Rival Sons, sold out the legendary Whisky a Go-Go in Los Angeles, sold out the Corona Theatre in their hometown of Montreal, and had one of their videos featured on the official Janis Joplin Facebook page. It's a culmination of a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
"We are fortunate enough to live in a time where knowledge is free, and you can basically learn how to do everything yourself,” says guitarist Tom Shemer. “It was instrumental for us as a young band with no budget. We had to make and shoot our own videos, produce, and record our own releases and do all the promo ourselves. The by-product of this was that, in a sense, we were the artist, record label and distributor of our art, which allowed us to have insight into what it means, what to expect from a record label, filmmakers, etc.” That DIY attitude appealed to Bob Rock and was reminiscent of his early days working with indie bands during his formative years in Vancouver. He was so impressed with The Damn Truth’s attitude and songs, and with Lee-la's voice, that he decided to record them live off the floor, in keeping with the band's ‘70s rock roots. This allows for a better band dynamic and ensures the bed tracks have that powerful live gig energy that's so crucial to the Bob Rock sound. Bob refers to it as "getting the feels." "He just got us, what we were about, what we were trying to do,” Lee-la recalls. "He was all about the music and having the band support the song every step of the way. He had a clear vision but was also very open to our suggestions and ideas." "I remember our first phone conversation. We were all like giddy teenagers, but his vibe and attitude immediately put us at ease. Same thing in the studio -- those first few moments of shock: ‘OMG, we are recording with Bob Rock!!' Pinching ourselves in disbelief quickly turned into, 'Yes! This is going to be awesome because he is so awesome." He was inviting and encouraging, enthusiastic and excited, like we were! Bob was like a kid in a candy store, pulling out all these incredible vintage guitars and gear. ‘Try this one out for size,' and so on."
Although the first single, This Is Who We Are Now, sets the tone, it is actually Only Love that sets the theme ("Only love can keep us going/So if we hold on, it'll be all right.") A melancholy song in its demo version, Bob Rock suggested a refocus that brought out its true potential. "I think we were all scratching our heads in disbelief when he wanted us speed it up that much,” says Tom, “but today I can't believe we ever played it any other way, and it's so hard-hitting and rocky now. I love what Bob brought to the table." The first single This Is Who We Are Now is a song of empowerment and inspiration.
"We were in serious performance withdrawal. After being on the road for years and being used to playing shows just about every night, it didn't feel right to not be performing." Lee-la says. "We set this goal for ourselves: to release a video a day for a month, or something like that. It gave us a purpose and it was fun to get dressed up, revisit some of our favourite rock songs, and be reminded of others once the suggestions started coming in. It was awesome to see the numbers go up and to get so much positive feedback from new fans all over the world. What we learned was, you're going to find your tribe if you look hard enough." In so many ways, a rock 'n' roll tribe of love and community is something we can all be a part of, right here, right now.
