NORWAY ROCK MAGAZINE
This is an artist, a sensitive storyteller, who is unbound by his past or expectations. The sounds, spaces and narrative become richer with every listen. Take several walks through the landscape of this record. It’s a journey you will remember. Easily one of the albums of the year, and it’s only February.
Rival Sons followed up the release of their “Darkfighter” album in the same year with another record, “Lightbringer”. We took a trip to Cambridge, England, on album release day to chat with frontman Jay Buchanan about making the record, how the cover artist created a response to AI, and how much the band f***ing love Norway.
Slipping away into the damp Cambridge night, it was hard to believe it had been more than two hours of music. It had passed so quickly, and we had heard the new album «Lightbringer» complete and much of its earlier-born sister. We had been shown raw force from voice and guitar, power and drive from bass and drums, a full chorus of lush ensemble vocals, and some very progressive-sounding ambience from the keyboard, taking us into Pink Floyd territory at times. This was a performance of the highest quality, the result of first-rate musicianship and total commitment to the music.
Leonard Cohen once sang “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”. Rival Sons have created a crack in the middle of two album releases, just four months apart. After releasing the transcendent “Darkfighter” album, the band will release its companion record, “Lightbringer”. Just as “Darkfighter” contained plenty of light, “Lightbringer” contains plenty of darkness.
In the slow cooling of the endless day of the Midnight Sun, Rival Sons performed at Bukta Open air Festival on one of only two European dates in their Summer schedule. They have been here several times before to this charming, welcoming festival set in a beautiful tree-lined enclosure on the edge of the water, skirted by the distant mountains of Kvaløya. They obviously like it here.