Review by Gary Spiller for MPM
It seems quite some time ago that Rebel’s frontman Wayne Doyle sat down with Times Radio’s Ed Vaizey to announce the release of their third studio album ‘Where Colours Meet’.
Llanelli’s chartbusters now have the high bar they set with 2022’s ‘See Through Blue’ to attempt to clear. That release of two years previous was my album of the year and, even with a relatively recent broadening of one’s tastes into the more extreme reaches of metal, this latest offering is set to peak atop my personal favourites of ’24.
For myself ‘Where Colours Meet’ is simply so much more than the latest material off the Rebel’s production line. It’s a realisation of an evolutionary process that Darwin would have been delighted to document.
This isn’t merely a rebadging or rebranding of an existing output however, but a thorough upgrade and streamlining into something of many hues, an expansion upon what has preceded. Something very much in readiness for a push on a trajectory of elevation and broadening. This is a tight collection of tracks that will please the loyal fanbase but with the aim of ‘preaching’ to the, as yet, unconverted.
‘Where Colours Meet’ kicks off with the lead single ‘Secret Drug’, a number quarried, with precision, from the highest peaks of their native Wales. Bannau Brycheiniog and Eryri are blasted right through the speakers as Chris ‘CJ’ Jones bursts forth with a vivid intro sprinkled with an infusion of The Who. The Doyle brothers, Wayne and drummer Gary, along with bassist Carl Oag join the burgeoning fray with a doffing of collective caps towards Primal Scream and The Cult. Whilst retaining the Rebels’ trademarks it’s most apparent that the shackles have been torn asunder arenas await with this initial astral marker.
A beefed up ‘Let Me In’ follows in fine fettle. Originally recorded in 2015 for ‘Keep Fighting’ the last album despatched by the Rebel’s previous incarnation V0id. It’s one of a pair of numbers from that album to gain a Rebels re-working; both are worthy of the treatment and strike me with the increase in their opulence. Herein, with ‘Let Me In’, courses a steely flow that will stand this fine track in good stead in the all-important live arena.
With the achingly exquisite line “Where all the different colours met” the soaring dynamics is in the absence of an actual title track ‘It Was Beautiful’ is the worthy holder of this accolade. With energetic surges this power ballad ebbs and flows with a sense of urgency to rival that of the largest tides. It’s at once the eagle upon the wing and the salmon seeking its up-river destination. An object of complete natural glory.
When reviewing the release of the Stateside freewaying ‘Grace’ as a single back in mid-May I waxed lyrical (pardon the pun) about the strengths of the finest musical artisans as being that of the conjuration of imagery. Think along the lines of Springsteen, Petty, and Dylan, now add Doyle to that list. Chilled-out yet upbeat the song’s ‘objet du désir’ is one plucked from a day-dreaming flight that soars gently with a firm hand applied. Possessing something of Talking Head’s classic ‘And She Was’ in these terms ensures a longevity with the largest of stages beckoning.
“I’d rather feel hurt that nothing” emotes Wayne Doyle in ‘Declining’. With splendid daubs of fellow countrymen, and purveyors of fine arena-rock, Manics and ‘Phonics it’s deep in its meaning but somehow brightly in its delivery. A veritable geologically scaled uplift on the challenging subject of mental health and wellbeing.
Alongside my unashamed love of The Rebels it’s no secret that I do save a goodly percentage of my musical heart for the soulful notes of Bristol’s songstress Elles Bailey. So, when these two elements collide in splendiferous fashion in the coruscant outpourings of ‘Out of Time’ there is nothing to prevent tears of utter joy falling. Alongside the two contrasting and entwining vocals CJ’s solo is one absolutely loaded with empathy. A total tear-jerker that provides the warmest of embraces or cwtches dependent upon which side of the border you’re from.
Nestling away, tucked in the middle of the album’s running order is the powered acerbic political comment of ‘How Much Is Enough’. Whilst there is a clear conscious decision under employ to leave ‘See Through Blue’ in the moment it was penned and intended for it’s within the bands DNA to make a rousing observation or three. This is one borne of the imbalances between the everyday streets of our towns and cities when compared to the halls of power.
The emotional kinetics of ‘Practice Run’, the second of the V0id tracks to re-emerge, remain undiminished, and evoke the rich pageantry of feelings the words always have. It’s strikingly cleaner and has undergone some streamlining into a sleek, polished machine with a V8 underneath the bonnet purring along.
‘Streets of Fire’, upon its release, I described as “pouring, for me, a seemingly unlikely alloy of Paul Weller and Billy Duffy into a patriotic Welsh cast with a dash of Stuart Adamson.” Words I cannot find better in my humblest of opinions for this conflagrant track whose poignancy has been furthered in these troubled times of civil unrest within the UK.
‘Who Wants To Be In Love Anyway’ gallops along leading the way into the barnstorming observational rabble-rousing of ‘Divide and Conquer’; a pairing that neatly dovetail and juxtapose one another.
There’s an exceptionally good reason as to why the album closing ‘My House My Rules’ sounds like something a melding of The Almighty and Black Star Riders would pen. That reason? Ricky Warwick whose sharp pen and wit was drafted in. It’s typically uncompromising and stands firmly upright in a nice, heavy divergence.
Once more Scarlet Rebels has delivered the goods; a furthering from ‘See Through Blue’. An evolution that will provide the propulsion into new realms and a breakaway, in part, from what has gone before. With NWOCR ceasing to be a genre of relevance (how long can a New Wave remain new?) this is a timely manoeuvre that will stand Scarlet Rebels in particularly good stead and yes this is my album of the year!
Pre-order Album – https://earache.lnk.to/WhereTheColoursMeet
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