Brian Ray is an American musician best known as a guitarist, bassist, backing vocalist with Paul McCartney’s touring band since 2002 and formerly as a musical director and guitarist for Etta James. He has performed with numerous other artists and leads his own band, The Bayonets. He releases his latest album ‘My Town’ this month which is a compilation of singles Brian has released with Wicked Cool Records since 2017, along with four brand-new tracks. The artist has shared that “As rich as my experiences have been playing and writing for others, there’s nothing quite like writing, producing, and playing for my own solo releases.”
The album opens with `When The Earth Was Round` a reflective foot tapper which seems to contemplate brighter times that were had during a previous relationship. Just over halfway through there`s a kind of thoughtful almost psychedelic segment before it resumes its original pathway. We have a further thoughtful offering in `Here For You` a song that reaffirms having somebody’s back. It has a kind of retro rock feel with some brief but complementing guitar solos.
`Got A New Thing` is a thumping rhythmic earworm of a track with lyrics that are shared in a brisk, rapid-fire style. A Steve Van Zandt co-write follows with `Bad 4 U` which the singer has said is about the subject “yearning for the attention of a bad girl in town. Rather than looking for a nice girl who is more like himself, he decides he needs to be bad too, in order to win her love.” A thoughtful dreamy number with some sweet melodies and hooks shared throughout.
`Pirate Radio` appears to be a tribute to all the radio stations that broadcast without a valid licence, a pounding nigh on singalong number with “ooohs” and “whoos” on route. We have a rootsy rhythmic submission in `On My Way To You` a bouncy arrangement that had a kind of Stones like texture.
`Hold Me Close` has some delightful resonating guitar riffs and a guiding drum beat, a melodic track that seems to echo that all be well if we stick together. Gia Ciambotti who came to fame with American pop rock band The Graces, takes the lead on a cover of Willie Dixon’s `I Ain’t Superstitious` and really makes this classic blues number her own with some sublime accompanying guitar tones.
Michael Des Barres (Power Station, Silverhead, Detective) adds his vocals to `Spell Breaker`, which he co-wrote with Brian Ray in 2020. It`s a superb sleazy, bluesy slow burn ballad like enticing piece. The album closes out with `All The While` which builds slowly and takes you on a psychedelic voyage which has a Middle Eastern tinge at times throughout. A number that really draws you in and becomes fairly mesmerising.
I have to admit that `My Town` was my introduction to Brian Ray and I was really takin in by the variety of styles on this collection of numbers. It`s not often that an artist will allow others to head up vocals on their album, but this is probably a mark of somebody who’s happy to allow this while adding his own guitar ability and skills.
Rating 8/10
