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Artist: Joy Focus |
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First of all, don't be put off
by the mouthful that's the title here. Take it as tongue-in-cheek
and enjoy the CD for what it is - radio-friendly power / pop from down
90's memory lane when it dominated the charts with bands such as Alisha's
Attic and Roxette.
Joy Focus, AKA Holly Joy on vocals, and Rikk Currence, the multi-instrumentalist, come up with the goods here that play like episodes from your average teenagers life - love, loss, hope and pain, that they all go through and will associate these songs to.. The story of loss is set in the harmonized 'Audrey's Gone', which sets the album away on it's emotional highway, but don't worry, it's far from being a gloomy track. In fact, apart from the heart tugging lyrics sang with feeling by Joy, it's a guitar driven track that makes you feel bad for tapping your foot to when the subject of the song is death of a girl!. As the CD goes on, you find that all the way through and you get used to it, so it's not just me! A lot of synth and programming are the core of most of the material, as in 'Princess Samantha', although the powerful guitars again make their presence felt, giving things a hardened edge when needed by Currence. He shares the limelight on vocals during 'Prayer', his quite tender voice complimenting Joy's girly style in this slow burner that almost puts you to sleep, it's so laid back. Talking of Joy's girly style voice, it takes a bit of getting used to after you've seen the photo of the duo. You'd think they'd just stepped out of the Sisters Of Mercy set up with their dark shades and clothes, but musically they are total opposite and Joy's voice does grow on you eventually. 'Salvation' is full of snappy guitars and drums, aided by more harmonies that also play a big part of this album. The further the song goes, the more it sounds like a Pat Benetar specialty, and one that hits the mark. There's an 'unplugged' sound to 'Halos and Flames' that couldn't be any more laid back and relaxing if Joy Focus tried. It's all acoustic guitars and tame drums that both sail along very easily. This is before 'All That You Need' drags you back out of your chilled mood due to those rocked up guitars, the synths and drum programming taking main stage as the song seems to be split into two styles almost. It shows just what this duo can do, and that rocks like a good 'un when they want to. Now when the next intro begins, you instantly recognise the song 'Here Comes The Rain Again', that classic 1984, number 8 hit for the Eurythmics, which Joy Focus cover so well. It stays close to the original without being an exact copy, and that's mainly due to those guitars by Currence yet again. This is a slightly extended version which gets better as it goes on, so hopefully Dave and Annie will give their blessings over such a good remake. 'Reprise', or should that be "a short, piano version of 'Audrey Is Gone'", brings an end to what is, as the saying goes, a short but sweet album, full of pure power / pop, that because of its contents lyrically, should be a big hit with the 'Dawsons Creek' gangs out there. Nice one, Joy Focus! Review by: Bob Baldwin |
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Tracklisting:
01.
Audrey Is Gone
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All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated. |
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