GLENN HUGHES: Resonate (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Time seems to have no hold on Glenn Hughes whose voice has lost none of its power, an inexhaustible source of thrills. Better still, after a decade, the eighties when he was a slave to cocaine, it can be said that the bassist has known since the end of the nineties, more than a second life, which is quite simply his artistic apogee, multiplying solo albums of great class ("Soul Mover", "Music For The Divine"). ...) and orgasmic collaborations (Black Country Communion, California Breed etc...). Even if, for many, he will remain eternally associated with his ephemeral appearances with Trapeze and especially Deep Purple.

While he had abandoned his solo career since 2008 and "First Underground Nuclear Kitchen" to focus on the super-groups mentioned above, "Resonate" marks the return of this living legend under his own name. And once again, we can only bow in front of this additional testimony of the insolent form that the man still displays despite his sixty-four years. In fact, when many veterans get bogged down in a music from another age, Glenn Hughes remains true to himself and to this rock as powerful as it is timeless.

While his predecessor was aptly named after him, an acronym of the word "funk", this new opus starts on the equally aptly named 'Heavy', a way of affirming from the outset that his creator is still alive. The fact remains that this hardness of line is nevertheless wrapped in soft finery thanks to its vocals rich in nuances, which are either high-pitched or funkier. All along, from 'My Town' to 'God Of Money', this leaden heaviness softened by wet and warm keyboards confers to "Resonate" this thick base that makes it one of the heaviest offerings of Glenn Hughes.

Although supported by a group entirely devoted to his cause, composed of the Danish guitarist and producer Søren Andersen, the Australian keyboardist Lachlan Doley and the Swedish drummer Pontus Engbourg, who leaves his kit to his friend Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) for two tracks, musicians that Glenn never muzzles, as these racy solos ('Flow') or those keyboard orgies escaped from the 70s ('Steady') prove it, It is indeed his roaring bass and his inimitable voice that feeds these tracks full of energy, each one more unstoppable than the other, rich in beautiful nuances, often colorful ('Landmines') and whose stocky power does not exempt them from a form of beauty nor from emotions. The more the album progresses, the more it reveals its most voluptuous curves ('Long Time Gone').

"Resonate" is once again a great success from Glenn Hughes, less funk, heavier but still positive and touched by the Divine. - Official website

GLENN HUGHES

RESONATE

FRONTIERS RECORDS

ROCK