photo by Matt Crawford; photo courtesy of Cain Rising

by James Morris, Contributing Blogger

Single Review of Cain Rising: “Glasgow City Spires”

Time was when you would sit down and listen to a whole album, be taken on a journey through carefully sequenced tracks and enjoy the music as the artist intended. Things have changed, and if I’m anything to go by, then Spotify, playlists, and pressing shuffle may well be the way we are consuming our music these days.

It’s a great convenience to be able to choose the album tracks you like, skip the ones you don’t and have all your favourite music randomly coming at you as a soundtrack to your daily life. I’m not sure as an artist myself, brought up on flipping between two sides of an album it’s how I want my own music picked through, but I have to accept, we live in a more transient, song by song world and maybe there is less point in making albums anymore, just singles.

image courtesy of Cain Rising

So that is why it is a very smart approach from Cain Rising to be releasing a series of five singles before putting them all together on a CD EP in July. It’s clever because it lengthens the shelf life for the band’s new release from reviewers like myself and from the radio stations that can have a new track every couple of weeks to keep them interested. There is so much musical competition when you release an album of music. A new release doesn’t stay new very long these days, and it seems that everyone moves on to the next new thing whilst the last song is still fading from the speakers. Dropping one track at a time as singles certainly keeps you in the public ear for a longer period of time.

Starting this series of releases on May 1st, Cain Rising put out “Rear View Mirror,” which I reviewed and loved. Now they have followed that with the single “Glasgow City Spires,” out on 15th May.

This song is inspired, according to writer and band frontman “Southside” Jimmy, “by a hazy hungover Sunday morning walk along Glasgow’s Great Western Road and down through Kelvingrove Park.” The song illustratively portrays the drive and passion Jimmy has for his hometown and poignantly marks his twenty-five years from moving away from it with lines like: “The streets below my soles, they’re home to me/My hometown’s now a foreign land.”

photo by Annie Price; photo courtesy of Cain Rising

“Glasgow City Spires” is rockier than “Rear View Mirror,” and with this gear shift you begin to discover the range of songs to come. This is trademark Cain Rising and it is worth noting that the band have been described by others as strong, engaging, original, and accomplished. All of these most definitely apply with, for my part, a large serving of joy, to boot.

A big part of what makes listening to Cain Rising so enjoyable is the sound they have achieved on the recordings. Enough time has been taken to ensure attention to detail but without losing the passion of performance. The band spent about 12 days recording five tracks at Echo Studios in Buckingham, UK. This EP and last year’s album were both produced by Jamie Masters, who seems to be able to get right inside the band’s sound and bring out the very best of the songs, arrangements and performance. As “Southside” Jimmy Price says, “He doesn’t just record the songs, he contributes to the arrangements, and his skills with the tools of his trade are unbelievable. He tunes in with the band so much it’s as scary as it is creative.”

The single kicks off with a short Badlands-Springsteen style drum intro and then greets you with the warm guitar snaps and organ swirls so familiar in the band’s style. This leads you into the verse where, by hanging on one chord for the first few lines, a great sense of suspense is created before breaking into the bridge and bouncing you into the driving chorus. The chorus, whilst not such an “earworm” as in “Rear View Mirror” with it’s “looking at you” hook, does offer an alternative delight. It’s thrilling when a song grabs you straight out the box but equally rewarding when one grows on you with each listen, allowing access to the depths within. This is such feel good music, brilliantly made. I think I’m going to play the CD loud in the car all summer long.

So while we all wait for that CD release, I hope, for now, this has whetted your appetite, and I’m looking forward to bringing you a full EP review once the remaining three tracks, “Walk My Way,” “Soldier,” and “Social Man” are released.

Check out my recent review of Cain Rising’s “Rear View Mirror” for more info on the band and their live dates.

photo by Annie Price; photo courtesy of Cain Rising

by James Morris, Contributing Blogger

Single Review of Cain Rising: “Rear View Mirror”

cover artwork by Julian O’Dell; image courtesy of Cain Rising

Let me start by saying that if you haven’t ever heard Cain Rising before, then you should first go explore their self-titled debut album from last year. Within its 11 tracks you will discover a familiar charm of classic-style American rock, delivered in a rootsy, down-to-earth way. You could easily mistake much of what you hear as coming from America’s heartlands with its mix of country, folk, and rock. Actually, what you have are a bunch of excellent musicians led by Southside Jimmy all from the UK but steeped in the influences of the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty or Bob Dylan.

photo by Matt Crawford; photo courtesy of Cain Rising

The band was formed in 2014 by Jim Price with longtime collaborators and friends Jez and Jo Parry. The line-up on these new recordings includes guitarist Ian Hopper, Matt Crawford on Hammond and piano, and Mick Ivory on drums.

The new single, “Rear View Mirror,” follows seamlessly on from the last album but with even more swagger and confidence.

This is the first release of 5 songs all destined for an EP release in July. This first glimpse of what is to come introduces the new band line-up and the addition of some really infectious, bright and joyous brass. These musical elements couple perfectly with the great songwriting of Southside Jimmy, and the result is an excellent summery song following the theme of hitting the road and getting away from it all.

photo by Matt Crawford; photo courtesy of Cain Rising

From the first strums of the uplifting intro, the introduction of the brass, and the full steam ahead approach, I was happily hooked. Seemingly effortlessly, the song led me quickly to the catchy chorus, which put me in mind of the driving type of thing Elvis Costello used to do on things like “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down.” Three minutes and eight seconds pass in the blink of an eye, and when it was done I found myself wanting to press play on it, over and over again.

photo by Annie Price; photo courtesy of Cain Rising

If this is the quality of what is to come later in the summer with the release of the EP, then I have to say that I really don’t want to have to wait. Luckily for me the band are going to digitally release all 5 songs one at a time in the coming weeks before the final EP is available.

The 5-track EP will also include all out rocker “Glasgow City Spires”; “Walk My Way” – rock meets swing – with horns from Rebecca Gibson Swift and Pablo Mendelssohn; “Soldier” – highlights the band’s love of strong vocal harmony bands such as The Eagles & CSNY; and Social Man – a tense, raw and intimate country song.

Patience will be hard to find, but at least this drip feed approach will go some way to slake my appetite for Cain Rising’s excellent new releases.

photo by Annie Price; photo courtesy of Cain Rising

“Rear View Mirror” is out now to download or stream. Further releases are due out between now and final EP release in July.

If you are in the UK, you can catch Cain Rising play live on July 2nd at Ampthill Festival, September 2nd at Catfest in Salford, or on October 21st at the Wheatsheaf in Leighton Buzzard.

Follow them on Twitter at @CainRising or visit their website at http://www.cainrising.rocks/.