Nu-blues to play Heavy on your Mind
I’m usually not a fan of anything that calls itself ‘Nu-‘ whatever, but Nu-Blues is a new one to me. Take the basic blues riff and distort it until it starts to break up, then play a nineties-psychadelic-rock guitar rock over the top, and you begin to get ‘Ten Ton Mother Love’. Grinding guitars and heavy beats make this one damn sexy blues record with an amazingly catchy riff. Thought there was nowhere new (or even nu) to take the blues? Why mess with a classic. It’s blues for the download age.
B-side ‘Believe in my Lies’ has a stripped back lo-fi feel with a steady beat and acoustic riff, punctuated by that grinding, echoey blues guitar (think Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’.) It’s a compelling listen, if not as instantly grabbing as ‘Ten Ton…’ It promises to build to something it never attains, but sounds like it would work better in a live performance, especially when the choral vocals kick in. Lets hope it all stays Heavy on Your Mind.