There’s a line on the opening song here “Another Day Lost (Solitude Sessions)” – the very last one as it happens. “You gotta start again if you want your freedom.”
Maybe that’s what this is all about after all? The search for artistic freedom. Oli Brown come a long way since the “old” days, the “old” blues sound. Through the rock of RavenEye to this.
And this third EP is another in a long line of epic-sounding brilliance. The hypnotic pulse of Wayne Proctor’s drums, plus the voice of Oli Brown. It makes for a real all-round package, especially when you add the fact that it seems he’s poured himself headlong into the lyrics. Like each sentence is ripped out of him.
“I Won’t Leave” adds a soul touch and he’s never sung better, frankly. There’s a sort of crescendo bit in the middle where Brown and Sam Wood (he of however many bands, I lose count these days) just let rip and it sounds wonderful.
In many ways, though, the centrepiece of the record comes with “Home Sweet Home”. If the others pull off the rather neat trick of sounding epic but not actually being so. This one is. More twists and turns than your average prog masterpiece, it’s a quite stunning soundscape.
It is another one, however that is searching. “My life was here but you’ve taken it all away” he offers, and where he’s found is the shadows. The darkness that this belongs in. And just in case you wondered if he’d still got it in him, the blues solo that appears from almost nowhere is incredible.
And it all ends – as he’s done on these EP’s elsewhere – with an alternate take on one of the songs. This one is the lead track. Meaning “…Lost” effectively bookends the collection. The power of this version sees me reaching for the Chris Cornell and Audioslave comparisons that I’ve done before with Oli Brown And The Dead Collective.
The visceral power here is undeniable. It is, even when the songs are quieter.
It was back in January 2023 that I reviewed the first of these EP’s and when I did I said: “Look, this might be the “Prelude”, but the main event promises to be sensational” and everything else since has been just that.
The band are amongst the most interesting we have right now. They almost dare you to classify them – and if you tried to second guess them then I don’t doubt you’d be wrong.
“Epilogue” is their third slice of brilliance – but the thing is, they don’t sound anywhere near finished.
Rating 9/10
