Ik ben altijd al een fan geweest van Philip Sayces weinig verfijnde, in your face blues rock. Ik hou van de rauwe productie, van de power, van zijn stem en natuurlijk van het gitaarvuurwerk van de man. Op zijn nieuwste single laat hij wat ruimte aan een leuke Wurlitzer solo en wordt alles nog eens compleet toegedekt met een vette Hammond. Misschien wat te veel van het goede, al lust ik deze overdosis wel.
The Wolves Are Coming verscheen op 23 februari 2024 via Atomic Gemini/Forty Below Records.
Lees
“Hole In Your Soul” is a heavy blues track screaming to be turned up loud. It is sure to inspire every guitar player to sit down with their favourite guitar and get lost in the song’s hypnotic groove. This new recording is a timely sneak peek into Sayce’s upcoming album, slated to be released in 2025.
“Hole In Your Soul” was tracked live at Noble Street Studios in Toronto, Canada, by producer and engineer Brian Moncarz and features the legendary Fred Mandel on Wurlitzer. This fresh recording and arrangement breathe new life into this reclaimed song, making it available to blues rock lovers, new and old.
Says Sayce, “The title of this song draws inspiration from an Albert King quote. It addresses the toxic obsession with material wealth and the relentless pursuit of external validation, often at the expense of one's intuition and inner truth. The lyrics explore the futile attempt to fill an internal void with fleeting approval, leaving one perpetually unsatisfied. I'm thrilled to share this song with you. Feel the music — crank up the volume!”
From the moment Philip Sayce first put his hands on a guitar neck, he never let go. Malcolm Gladwell theorized that “greatness” requires 10,000 hours of practical training. A teenage Sayce had easily surpassed this threshold when his hometown hero, legendary guitarist and multi-platinum artist Jeff Healey, caught Sayce playing a ferocious show in downtown Toronto.
Within a year, Sayce was touring internationally with Jeff Healey’s band and performing at prestigious festivals. Since that time, Sayce has put in multiples of that 10,000 hours, recording and touring for four years with musical icon Melissa Etheridge, then launching a solo career and establishing a rabid fan base in Europe and beyond, opening shows for the likes of ZZ Top and Deep Purple. Sayce is a rare artist, a combination of outstanding songwriter, unparalleled guitarist, soulful singer, and electrifying performer.
Born in Wales, raised in Toronto, and Los Angeles-based, Sayce’s love of the guitar started at an early age when his parents introduced him to many of the influential greats including Albert King, Freddie King, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, Jeff Healey, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck. Sayce performed on Uncle Kracker’s album No Stranger to Shame, which featured the single “Drift Away,” a song that topped the Billboard charts for 28 weeks. He toured and recorded with Melissa Etheridge, and during this time, Sayce found time to record his first solo album, Peace Machine, with co-producer Michael Nielsen.
In 2015, Sayce made his major label debut with Influence (Warner Music). Recorded with Grammy award-winning producer Dave Cobb, the album spawned strong press notices, a top 20 radio track, and expanded his global audience. The release was followed in 2016 by Scorched Earth, Volume 1 (Warner Music), a captivating live performance documented at Toronto’s Silver Dollar Room. Sayce’s electrifying live performances leave fans awestruck — a devastating house-shaking appearance at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival in New York City was heralded as one of the top performances of the event.
In 2020, during the global pandemic, Sayce released his seventh full-length album, Spirit Rising (Warner Music). The self-produced recording quickly became his most successful album without the support of tour dates or traditional promotion. Undaunted, Sayce turned his attention to social media and saw his fan base grow by over 300%. To date, Spirit Rising has eclipsed 131 million streams on Spotify.
