Having entered our consciousness a couple of years ago after taking up (permanent?) residency on planet Earth, the Harvey Steel show return with their ultra-weird yet thoroughly compelling brew of blues, psychedelia and arthouse visuals via brand new offering ‘Orlando Bloom’. One can be forgiven for thinking the obvious regarding the title of said new single with the facial exterior and matching persona of “the guy next door”, yet somehow gold dust all the way from tinsel town rains down on this here parade. Open up the contents, however, of ‘Orlando Bloom’ the single and the innards are the kind you will find in any assorted box of chocolates where variety really is the key word to understanding the world these cosmic cats, the Harvey Steel show, reside in. By beginning with a sense of urgency that is relayed via a trippy jazz sound with a real sense of foreboding developing, ‘Orlando Bloom’ soon takes a multitude of avenues where pop mingles with soul, for example, to create a little boogie, and given extra buoyancy to this journey by means of brass instrumentation. The predominant lightness of tone musically provides a temporary mask to the lyrical contents, jointly penned via band leader Thomas Bergsten and fellow comrade Kristine Marie Aasvang, where there’s suggestion that ‘Orlando Bloom’ is really concerned with the flaws affecting planet Earth. It’s a fascinating ride and one that deserves to be given a fair hearing if there’s any justice left in this world.

There is a personal message at the heart of this album via its creator and (mad) musical wizard Thomas Bergsten (aka Mr Harvey Steel or otherwise known as Gunerius Quack) that is told through the eyes of Trixie Marmalade. The plight in question focuses on the transformation of humanity into one big loveable hug because at present there is far too much focus on the individual self that can lead to bad habits such as temptation, selfishness and hatred. In order to get there, Trixie Marmalade, whose identity is a tad sketchy – definitely female; quite possibly green with bulbous eyes yet for this trip to Earth the unfortunate truth is that Trixie found herself stuck inside a cardboard figure! Therefore, with help required, Gunerius Quack comes to the rescue in order to transmit Trixie’s message so that humankind can begin to love itself again rather than spread further hatred as experienced from the parallel universe from where Trixie came. Phew! With that aside the music being peddled from this long player is far from easy listening, with a large spread of influences being applied over a canvass containing elements of ambient, jazz, psychedelia, blues for example, and with the narrative communicated in a mechanistic styling that is part Stephen Hawking and part Radiohead ‘OK Computer’ with Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits for company. The rest really is up to the listener in terms of what to make of ‘Trixieland (the musical)’ because it is a highly inventive body of work that weighs heavily on surrealism as well as reality (see above). There is one thing for certain, however, and that is the equal measure of confusion, delight and irritation ‘Trixieland (the musical)’ will create where creative peaks such as the quasi-hillbilly pickin’ ‘His Name Is Hatred’ are greeted by more difficult companions (‘Hello I Love You’). Whoever said art should be an easy ride?

Rhythm and blues by way of Belgium finds a new artist to land on the scene by the name of Shakedown Tim & The Rhythm Revue. With fellow rhythm and blues artist Nico Duportal behind the helm in terms of production for this album release, ‘Hard To Catch’ comprises of nine out of ten original compositions (with one cover) penned by the band’s frontman, Tim, revealing a batch of clever and often witty lyrics set to a superb set of sounds supplied by the equally talented ‘Rhythm Revue. It’s not just the song writing skills, however, that compel as Shakedown Tim’s vocal is often persuasive with its coarse edges during opening track ‘How Long’ complementing the raw bluesy guitar and saxophone, before dropping down a level and providing brief comical moments via an exaggerated vocal bemoaning the difficulties held by the chase of a relationship (“This fish is hard to catch!”). If love is proving a touch difficult for this rhythm and blues combo, then their album ‘Hard To Catch’ goes some way to soothing any such inadequacies as it makes for the perfect partner to beat away the blues.

Sometimes during an album’s running order, there is a song that often stands head and shoulders above the rest. When it comes to Scott Taylor’s new album ‘Blues Kitchen’ such a song can be heard with ‘Tennessee’. A subjective opinion of course, but this reflective, slow burner of a song finds Taylor in wistful mode, vocal positioned right at the front as he tries to find his way back home and accompanied by a laidback rhythm. Stirring stuff and the great introduction to the world of the ‘Blues Kitchen’ which, outside of this particular track, has a habit of revealing new details that seemingly escaped one’s attention during its first few outings. Part of this is down to the album providing a real sense of warming up before hitting full stride with a succession of songs that speak of truths concerning relationships and the heartaches they can bring, but also great satisfaction as well. With Taylor himself describing this collection of songs as “unfiltered and strait [sic] from the gut” such a description is apt when hearing the tracks ‘Fussin and Cussin’ that is an irritable and prickly number greatly highlighted by Taylor’s vocal and the Blues Kitchen Cooks’ rhythm section of Tony Fazio (guitars), Charlie Sayles (harmonica) and Greg Phillips (drums). Following on, ‘Sweet Daddy Brown’ peps up the mood with a seemingly sweet rhythm, yet the narrative concerning its central character manages to hold an air of mystery right to its conclusion and makes for great listening . The blues continue apace with the compelling and down on its luck ‘Bad Company’ that reveals a few golden lines where “Even the door won’t open up for me because I’m bad company”, and wry humour of “Even the dog don’t come to me, He says I’m bad company” suggesting life’s fortunes really couldn’t sink any lower, with the grinding, moody tempo doing its best to add to the misery being expressed. The temperature soars during ‘Alabama Babe’ spiked with harmonica and guided by acoustic guitar and a vocal that sounds as if it’s slowly being compressed in an already tight space. Scott Taylor’s ‘Blues Kitchen’ is a personal album that never overcooks itself when it comes to expressing its emotions, due to the understated presentation of its entire contents which makes for compelling listening.

If you tried squeezing any more musical references into the Harvey Steel show’s latest album, then the ship sent from Jupiter to Earth would’ve crashed and burned once entering the latter planet’s ether due to the sheer weight of the intergalactic space vessel transporting these Norwegian cosmic cats. As it stands, ship’s captain, Thomas Bergsten, proves a steady sort as he, along with his five fellow band members, expertly guides this magical musical vessel through bouts of turbulence and unpredictability that can be described as Captain Beefhart and Frank Zappa-esque, but altogether quite simply the Harvey Steel show. With a swift “Hello” and equally swift “Goodbye” to Ol’ red horns down under via former single ‘Shaky Hand Modifier’ with its short, sharp bursts of indie jazz blues, the band’s sound is definitely reined in tighter throughout the majority of this latest excursion. That’s not to say that the Harvey Steel show ease up on the creative pedal, far from it, it’s more that this six piece know when to shut up shop rather than letting the psychedelia take too much of a (pleasurable) hold. From the opening ‘Michael Hare’s Psychedelic Rabbit’ that scrapes samples of the inner workings of Donny Darko’s mind and projects these thoughts to all those present at a half-empty airport terminal where the standing conveyor belt has no ending, to the part smoky jazz and psychedelic folk of ‘Acid Trip To Spain’ with its eccentricities and sad ending, the band’s penchant for fusing various other art forms with music continues its exploration. Such ideas clash often where darkened corners reveal themselves via the jazz blues-rock ‘Mr Mystery’, but then throw up pretty patterns via ‘Reality Is Ideal’, which is probably the closest example you’ll ever hear of the Harvey Steel show going straight. By the way, it works tremendously! With the old-timey offering served up by the album’s title track, the Harvey Steel show has surpassed their debut album by some considerable distance, due to pulling tight on those creative reins and therefore delivering a more cohesive album yet somehow never losing that magical spark and creative edge that sets out this band as really rather special. It’s time to sample the wonders of ‘Ol’ Drake’s Travelin’ Medicine Show’!

Far from this being a new experience for London-based singer-songwriter Rich Evans considering that he’s a veteran of the genres encompassing Americana, blues and folk, in addition to holding an impressive CV when it comes to performing live having undergone extensive tours in America and Europe and released albums for US record labels in Nashville. The latest venture for Rich Evans is the single ‘Poor Man’s Dollars’, which is part of the upcoming full album release this year ‘Left of Laurel Canyon’. The single finds a dual vocal performance that is beautiful in its execution as it quietly laments over the poverty-stricken state outlined in the central narrative, and given further weight by the stripped back feel of the country instrumentation. A strong start for Rich Evans before the main event as ‘Poor Man’s Dollars’ is an intelligent piece of song writing that deserves your upmost attention.