When it came to Halden Electric’s third album, any notion of the creativity department being bereft of ideas was simply non-existent. When most artists struggle to find the form which promised so much on first album outings, Halden Electric not only had enough material to reach fourth base, but also a finely tuned balance of songs consisting of acoustic and electric and therefore a double album was born. The end result is ‘Women’; a twenty track collection spanning a variety of emotions and best listened to during several shifts due to the sheer amount of detail between its covers. ‘Loving Coming To Life’ is the best possible introduction with its barebones beginning of mandolin and forlorn vocal that tries its best to convince the future holds much promise when in fact it’s quite the opposite. ‘Always You’ leans towards Americana as it brings a glow musically, despite holding much heartbreak at its centre with downright weepy utterings, “I don’t take roads that don’t lead to you”. Wonderful steel strings and various other musical accompaniments try their hardest to perk up the downtrodden sentiments of ‘Everything You Love’, which is proceeded by an even greater effort with an almost a cappella ‘Light Your Lantern’ adding further vindication that the decision for a double album was the right one considering the breadth of creativity. The brooding ‘I Don’t Think It’s Funny’ complete with the merest hint of vocal harmonising during its chorus carries the song to its conclusion, only having to sidestep a brief interlude straight out of The Beatles handbook circa White album before arriving at the self-confessed, “It’s gonna do me a lot of good to get away from myself”.
Side two really opens up the wounds further as there is no respite for the hapless victim(s) at the end of these tales of heartbreak as ‘No More Love’ fully indicates with its distorted bluesy guitars and thumping backbeat owing a considerable debt to the White Stripes. The sonic distortion prevails in superb fashion with scuzzy guitars dragging ‘These Wounds’ through the mire. ‘I Don’t Want To’ tones things down musically and reveals its fondness for Neil Young due to possessing an aching quality on several different levels. The tension felt during ‘How Much Attention’ is certainly exerted via scorched guitars and a distorted vocal that is close to boiling over with its persistent questioning. Red hot guitars persist throughout ‘Good To Be Alone’ before ‘Trust Your Love’ brings the curtain down on this immense album with a final realisation that the same trust is to be invested once more if the dream is to be realised. ‘Women’ is an album of two halves that is equally intense and honest when it comes to its confessionary tales revealing a severely tested heart, but thankfully one that is not willing to call time just yet.