Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Newman
Label: AOR Heaven Records
Release: 2013
Runtime: 56:07
Rating: 4/5
The tireless Steve Newman is back after two years with his band Newman, returning to the fields of fresh melodic rock studio releases. A tireless veteran among the sound engineers of the British Isles, he’s not exactly a musician who’s been swayed into changing his style over the years of holding his ground on the scene. What you see is what you get. Ever since his 1998 debut, Steve Newman has been a byword for quality releases that deliver top-notch, tightly packed melodic rock of the typically British variety.
»Siren«, the second album for AOR Heaven Records, continues the path from its predecessor »Under Southern Skies« (2011). That means Steve keeps opening the doors of his studio to other musicians. This time there are more collaborations than ever before in his career. And that’s a very good thing. »Siren«, the 10th studio album of his career, a milestone, boasts some welcome fresh ideas in the arrangements, which effectively “light up” Steve Newman’s otherwise predictable songwriting template. The guy is, of course, still the main creator of most of the songs on the new album, but it needs to be said right off the bat that the team-up with Pete Newdseck (Eden’s Curse, Tainted Nation) on Some Kind Of Wonderful and Waiting For the Day, plus the one with longtime buddy Steve Workman (Vega, kick) (going back to the second album “One Step Closer”, 1999) on When it Comes To Love, gave us three tracks that stand out on the album in terms of quality, thanks to the haul of grabby, melodic hooks in the choruses and the bombast on offer. These three songs also show how welcome it was to harmonize the lead vocal with guest vocalists (Pwete Newdeck, Steve Workman), because those moments on the new album gain even more color and contrast, and with that, more pomp.
The album opens with a surprise. Opener Scar Of Love is built on a sped-up tempo. Of course, the typical veil of island melancholy in melodic rock is right there with us, but a tempo this fast in the hands of plenty of power metal bands, even in 2013, would soon be backed up by the clatter of double bass drum pedals. So the fastest song on »Siren« is placed right at the very start. Next up is the interesting Had Enough, where the chorus especially stands out with those synthesizer curtains, the typical sonic engraving of the eighties, which, combined with the lead chorus melody, create a backdrop reminiscent of the “softer” days of Ozzy’s eighties career, as captured, say, in his hit One Shot In The Dark (from the album »The Ultimate Sin«, 1986). Sly packaging, Steve, hats off! The third song works especially well: even though the verse follows the lines of Waite’s hit Missing You, the grabby melodic chorus takes it somewhere else entirely. The fourth, Antoher Bitch In the Night, is a solid rocker of a pulse-raiser, where a beefed-up guitar riff and Steve Newman’s deliberately “macho-like” vocal performance deepen the drama theater.
Going by what we’ve covered so far, »Siren« can be counted as a more inspired, more characterful album, and it also proves that Steve Newman has successfully merged the maturity and seasoned craft of an experienced songwriter and the know-how of a sound engineer with a real spark of ideas, which this time is further boosted by the collaboration with special guests. It’s hard to find weak spots on the album this time, although 45 minutes would have been plenty. Without the mildly generic power ballad near the end of the album, called The Foolish One, everybody would have “survived”. Otherwise, the songs on the album stand firm! And it shows that the invitations to special guests were more than welcome, since the creative input “from the outside” has a positive effect on the extra contrast between the songs!
Considering that »Siren« followed the expressively strong predecessor »Under Southern Skies« after just two years, Newman haven’t stalled or watered down their own musical lineup with a new album that couldn’t keep up with the quality of its predecessor. The new album feels a bit gloomier again than its positively minded predecessor, which was seen as personally confessional and bore witness to how Steve dealt with the evil ghosts of his past. On the new album the guy is once again busy with the main spice of the male world. Women. Better not to dissect the lyrics, otherwise you’ll never be friends with melodic rock. They just don’t boast any special intellect. And the album »siren« is no different in that respect. But what simply tips the scales in favor of the great virtues of the new Newman release is the fact that in a short time Steve Newman held on to his fruitful creative inspiration in writing music and delivered a varied, dynamic record that sits in the league of the typical traits of island melodic rock, while with its freshly finished batch of invasively effective songs it also ranks among the career highs of Steve Newman’s studio releases to date.
Lineup
Steve Newman – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
Rob McEwen – drums, percussion
Shaun Bessant – guitar solo on “When It Comes To Love”
Robert Säll – guitar solo on “Feel Her Again”
Pete Newdeck – backing vocals on “Some Kind Of Wonderful” and “Waiting For The Day”
Nick Workman – backing vocals on “When It Comes To Love”
Production
Steve Newman
Tracklist
01. Scar Of Love
02. Had Enough
03. Arcadia
04. Another Bitch Of A Night
05. Feel Her Again
06. Some Kind Of Wonderful
07. Siren
08. When It Comes To Love
09. Crossfire
10. Waiting For The Day
11. The Foolish One
12. Don’t Know Why
