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BLACKMORE ' S NIGHT Nature ' s Light
( earMusic )
“ Escape to another time with this mystical music inspired by the magic of nature ,” reads the hype sticker adorning the first album by Blackmore ’ s Night since 2015 ’ s All Our Yesterdays . Those familiar with the previous ten Blackmore ’ s Night albums will expect less of the classic rock pyrotechnics that guitarist Richie Blackmore brought to Rainbow or Deep Purple , but will instead seek ample sonic delights of a different vintage . Candace Night sings an invocation of hope from a dreary winter ’ s night during “ Once Upon December ,” propelled by jingling tambourine and Blackmore ’ s humming hurdy-gurdy . On songs including “ Four Winds ,” Blackmore is more prominently heard playing acoustic guitar , nickelharpe and mandola . This material is more suited to your madrigal dinner or Mayday celebration , leaning upon the medieval imagery of Night ’ s lyrics . “ Going to the Faire ” is a natural fit in style and sentiment , celebrating the carefree pleasures of times past recaptured today at the local renaissance fair . The album is packed with spirited reels and the sounds of traditional anglo-European , Irish , and Scottish music , sometimes fused with rock instrumentation and rhythm . The melancholy instrumental “ Darker Shade of Black ” features Scarlett Fiddler ’ s lyrical violin , majestic pipe organ , Blackmore ’ s nimble fingerstyle guitar , and indeed , an emotive and soaring electric guitar solo . “ Der Letzte Musikelier ” ( translation : “ The Last Musician ”) is another rockier instrumental , unfolding as a blues boogie adorned by cathedral organ and Blackmore ’ s biting but supple electric guitar tone ( which soars again during the album-closing coda for “ Second Element ”). Night ’ s medieval woodwinds , reeds , and pipes during songs like “ The Twisted Oak ” are perfectly matched to tales populated by forest fairies and spirits , as Night ’ s character wanders in a timeless search for peace of mind . Her forlorn vocal during “ Wish You Were Here ” suggests that lonely souls surely sang the blues throughout the ages . Night sings an anthem to rebirth , praising the May Queen and the gentle triumph of springtime in title track “ Nature ’ s Light .”
– Jeff Elbel
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26 illinoisentertainer . com june 2021
OLIVIA RODRIGO SOUR
( Geffen )
A new generation of young artists is coming of age in 2021 , and Olivia Rodrigo is clearly leading the way . In a digital age where teens seem to be barred from sharing the tension and awkwardness of coming of age with honesty , SOUR is filled with refreshing innocence and transparency . An album almost entirely focused on teenage angst and painful breakups , Rodrigo ’ s debut is buoyed by her powerful lyricism and beautiful voice . SOUR is mainly experimental , with strong contrasts between her co-written upbeat angry singles and opening track and the slower , more straightforward lyric-centered ballads written by Rodrigo alone . The risks taken with the tracks “ driver ’ s license ,” “ deja vu ,” and “ good 4 u ” musically pay off , though I would have liked to see those risks taken on other tracks on the album . Overall , the remaining tracks on SOUR are a complicated mix of breakup songs ( except for “ brutal ” and “ jealousy , jealousy ”) rather than a cohesive album . Despite this , SOUR manages to beautifully represent the potential of this 18-year-old , demonstrating the quality and passion behind Rodrigo ' s songwriting . In the struggle to find her own sound , Rodrigo ’ s experimentation can display her range as both a singer and a songwriter . Opening track “ brutal ” and third single “ good 4 u ” aren ’ t unlike Paramore , while slower equally impressive tracks like “ traitor ” and “ favorite crime ” mirror Rodrigo ’ s strong influence from Taylor Swift , even interpolating Swift ’ s “ New Year ’ s Day ” from Reputation in SOUR ’ s “ 1 step forward , 3 steps back ”.
Overall , Rodrigo ’ s debut is a solid , though an abbreviated start for the Disney star . Her songwriting , album sales and streaming records are seemingly a taste of bigger things to come .
- Riley Vernon
8 * All track titles are stylized in all lower case
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we ’ d never really experienced success , and the first one was just such an explosion , you know ? And they say that success and failure are equally as disastrous .
IE : Did you at least spend the royalties well ? Buy a house , maybe a new car ? MK : Yeah , but I ’ ve never been a materialistic person , and I grew up with the experience of not ever having much to my name . And I was okay with that . And I never saw the band as something I would make money off of . Initially , my only goal for the band was to make that 300 pounds back that we spent making the first record . I thought , “ I wanna get that back , and then I ’ ll have done a lot !” But I actually got a small flat in Brighton , which I ’ m very grateful for . But I never expected material things to satisfy me because I never placed much value on them , anyway .
IE : As I recall , you know how to cook . Did that come in handy during a lockdown ? MK : I DO know how to cook ! And Yes , 100 % — it was a blessing . So I ’ ve been doing lots of cooking . And not only that , but I ’ ve been doing a lot of baking , as well , which isn ’ t so good for the waistline . But it ’ s been a good hobby .
IE : If someone dropped in for dinner , what is the go-to dish that you would surprise them with ? MK : My specialty ? Well , I wouldn ’ t actually bake if someone came ‘ round , but if I were to cook , I would probably make lobster ravioli . It ’ s impressive , and it ’ s totally made from scratch , you know ? And my secret is , you need to have salmon and egg whites whipped into a mousse , and that ’ s what holds the lobster meat together . And you want to cook it in that raw mousse — it ’ s a wonderful thing .
IE : You ’ ve said that while you were in L . A . recording “ Boilermaker ” with Josh Homme , you suddenly took off on your own to Las Vegas , where you made a crucial decision to get sober while sitting at a bar one night . MK : Yeah . I think I ’ ve had multiple opportunities in my life to stop drinking , and I ’ d done stints of sobriety before , some as long as a month . And every time I did them , I enjoyed them . But not enough to stay sober , because I always returned to drinking because it was just such an ingrained part of my life , almost part of the job . But that night in Vegas , I just decided that not only was I going to stop but that this was going to be a life choice rather than a detox . I think I ’ d come to the end of the road in my relationship with alcohol — it wasn ’ t serving me anymore , and I knew how much better off I ’ d be without it . So it was almost like a breakup .
IE : How did you go about it ? MK : Honestly , I did it on my own . But I wish I didn ’ t . I sort of wish I ’ d just gone and used a twelve-step program or entered into a facility for treatment . I sort of regret not doing that because it was incredibly difficult , and there was so much I didn ’ t know , so I was kind of working it all out
for myself . But look — in the same breath , It also worked , so if there ’ s anyone out there that is troubling over the same thing , I would say DON ’ T do it on your own , even though I did .
IE : That ’ s another spinoff from the adversity-equals-art trope — that decadence , and drugs and alcohol , can aid you in your vision quest . MK : Yeah . But no — there ’ s never a success story with drugs , where someone who had never had a hit or made anything successful or creatively prosperous , well , there ' s no one like that for whom drugs were the answer . The story — or the argument — is always that someone that was already very talented and creative took drugs , so I guess my argument is that drugs didn ’ t make the art — it was the person , and they were already creative in the first place . And it ’ s a skill that you ’ ve spent years honing in and working on . If it was as easy as getting high and suddenly being able to write “ Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ,” then everyone would have done it already .
IE : But your coolest revelation on this record , I think , is you understood the fundamental importance of AC / DC and how they ’ re not this wall of sound people seem to think they are — they leave a lot
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