Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Escape
Label: Z Records
Release: 2013
Runtime: 50:49
Rating: 3/5
Escape are a new outfit of seasoned old cats. The project was cooking for a long time in secret at the independent British label Z Records, and the first news of the new band leaked out sometime in the fall of 2010. In short, it’s a creative partnership between vocalist Stevie K and guitarist Vince O’Regan (Pulse, Bob Catley, Alibi, Legion). Escape soon put out their debut, last year in fact (»Unbreakable«). The lineup is rounded out by Andy Pierce (Seven Dayz) on drums and Irvin Parrat (Bob Catley, Lost Weekend) on keys, while on the new album Dave J McVeigh stepped in on bass for Andy Mills (Pulse/Alibi).
The Stevie K – Vince O’Regan duo has clearly clicked, because in less than a year Escape are back with a new studio album, »Borderline«. Escape come with a few quirks. The first is Stevie’s voice. You have to get used to it. It’s special. Throaty, actually »forced« throaty, which means Stevie could just as well use a normal clean vocal line. The guitar riffs also poke out a bit in Escape’s sound, which isn’t your typical British-isles production trait, since they usually try to balance the weight of the guitar phrases in the mix. The riffs stand out even more because the keyboards stick strictly to that eighties sonic curtain. No detours into Hammond or Moog solos. All you hear is a synth drape and nothing more. The soundscape is filled out by an active, dynamic rhythm section, with the warm bass line given decent room up front. What bugs me is the clumsy coloring of the vocal melodies with harmonies (the choruses). Especially in the multi-repetitive choruses, a whole pile of »throaty« Stevies starts to »glare« in the mix and ends up grating. The vocal is interesting. It comes across as too weak, though I reckon it would sound better if they’d known how to place it differently in the production. For AOR, a vocal weighed down by this much throatiness is occasionally almost at the edge of acceptable. The weak spot of the album is really the not-so-successful production of the vocal harmonies. This »meowing« starts to bother most on the ballads, like Where Are You Now.
The riffs and lead motifs ignite. They hit an enviable level of songwriting and impact. Escape walk us through some of the hallmarks of classic AOR songwriting, which has developed its own distinct groove across the British Isles over the decades. Parallels with the sound of eighties FM aren’t out of the question, and neither are the albums of bands like Heartland, Newman and so on…
Escape don’t deliver anything new with »Borderline«. But there’s still plenty of heart and devotion to AOR smoldering in the band’s new work. Two albums in less than a year. Something you can be really proud of, as long as they’re good. And they are. No doubt about that. There are a few grabby, anthemic melodies, like the one on the title track, then the instantly pompous opener Lost And Found, and Coming Home, whose verse promises more than we get later, when the song waters down a bit in an unfortunately repackaged chorus with an overdose of generic. There’s also the effective little rascal Take Me To The Limit. All in all, a thoroughly likable album that proves the band hasn’t lost an ounce of creative drive in a year.
Like I said: the band will have to sort out the harmonizing of its vocal melodies, and then the rating will go up too. Still, AOR diehards! Don’t write the album off in advance if this review has left an impression on you. Definitely check out Escape and form your own opinion. What bugs this reviewer may well be perfectly digestible for you, so both »Unbreakable« and the new »Borderline« could still bloody well win you over, even though there’s no big artistic shift »left« or »right« between them. Escape have potential, since they haven’t yet tapped all their songwriting reserves to make the tracks ignite hypnotically in all that bombast.
Line-up
Stevie K — vocals
Vince O’Regan – guitar
Irvin Parrat – keyboards
Dave J McVeigh – bass
Andy Pierce — drums
Production
Borderline
Tracklist
1. Lost And Found
2. Coming Home
3. Marianne
4. Restless Heart
5. Don’t Leave Me Lonely
6. Where Are You Now
7. Borderline
8. Take Me To The Limit
9. Angel Eyes
10. Young Guns Dream
11. Calling Out To You
