Since Canadian products are, obviously, far superior to their other North American counterparts, here's a reminder of my thoughts from 2015 on my favourite Canadian band's double album Hold the Vision/Trust the Process ...
There are only three (non-classical) female singing voices that I actively enjoy listening to. Salem Jones from One Soul Thrust is one of them (the other two being Annie Lennox and Chrissie Hynde in case you’re interested). The rest I find lack projection and richness, missing character and clarity in melodic songs and going screechy when they actually try for power. Salem has both vocal power and range and a rich, characterful clarity so I was overjoyed when I heard that a new One Soul Thrust album was coming out....
Hold on. Who? What do you mean you’ve never heard of them?! OK, not many have on this side of the water as they are “one of Canada’s best kept secrets”. I discovered them thanks to social media several years ago, around the time of their second album release, and have been following their progress ever since. One Soul Thrust describe themselves as a “purist original rock band” who write their own songs. Their sound is, well, incredible. It’s classic rock with a 21st century twist, fresh and original but at the same time comfortably familiar. It IS pure but without being clinical, powerful without ever losing its soul. It’s everything I need from a rock band. And I really get the feeling that they’re everything they need from a rock band too as they are obviously very comfortable together, sounding tight and professional as a unit, with everyone getting a chance to shine. As well as Salem’s soaring vocals and rhythm guitar, there’s Jag Mollerup on lead guitar and backing vocals, Anna Portalupi on bass and Todd Pretty’s “pounding hypno-grooves”... or drums to everyone else.
Before I get into the track by track though I really must mention three things to save me repeating them for every track. Firstly, the writing is always lyrically strong and always with a message. Secondly, as I said above, the music is fresh but familiar feeling. This is a really great thing though as the hooks are immediate and nothing jars. It’s the album you feel like you’ve had in your rock collection for years, listened to regularly and keep going back to when you need a lift. Thirdly, I must mention the production. Often these days, bands will sound so over-produced on albums that you feel the live experience must be completely different. The sound engineering and production on this album is second to none, capturing the heart and soul of the band and their music without compromising on sound quality and polish. Bravo!
Going track by track on part 1: Hold the Vision
1 Pthumper
Yeah, yeah, yeah! Salem’s voice is the first thing you hear before the band kicks in for a thumper indeed of a first track. I can’t decide if the spoken verses remind me more of Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus or the Rocky Horror Show’s Sweet Transvestite but in either case it is great glam fun with a heavy backline punctuating Salem’s powerful singing.
2 Perfect Scream
Jag’s unique guitar sound takes centre stage for the opening to this one before Salem’s vocals kick in and the really hooky guitar riff carries throughout. You can’t help but move to this one.
3 Naked Arms of Love
This is pure 80’s rock. There is no other way to describe it. The driving beat and soaring vocals. The stunning guitar solo. Even the feedback noise at the end that fades to silence before the gig crowd in your head goes wild (or is that just me). It’s so, so eighties. And it’s utterly wonderful.
4 Good Day
This is a good good day. And this is a good good song to sing along to with an incredibly catchy chorus. And that transposition and change in pace near the end song as the beat drops... I’m afraid there’s only one word for it. Sexy.
5 Chambers of Truth
This is the first single off the album and, if I’m honest, for me it’s the weakest song on here. It’s not bad by any means, of course not, it just has to compete with some absolute belters. Maybe it’s because it’s more ballady than the others and I don’t really get with the slushy stuff. It certainly showcases the clarity, range and beauty of Salem’s voice and the virtuosity of Jag’s guitar playing. Just not my favourite having heard the rest of the album.
6 Truthbringer
Oh my god, Todd’s drumming. Stunning. Poor guy must always be shattered after this one. What a great track to end the album to leave the door open for part 2.
So what of part 2? Let's "Trust the Process," put the needle on the second record and find out.
* Editor note from my buddy Steve - let me jump in here and do some 'drumsplaining' for poor old Susan. You are absolutely correct about the 4 odd minutes at the start of this song, by the way this is the first time I've heard the band and only listened once so I'm judging only on this run through.
Stop looking for Rush in everything! They weren't that good, in fact one of the most overrated bands ever, and not everything will fit into your Neil Peart POV. What actually happened at the end of this tune surpasses anything Rush have achieved. The track took one of the most UNIQUE turns I've heard in music... ever, and I'm the son of a professional musician and drummer myself. It was exquisite, it was different, it was musically quite beautiful, in fact, if I do have to find a fault and I tried hard to I'd say anything pre 4.30 in the tracks run-time was generic rock. Good rock but challenging? Different? No. From 4.30 onwards the band show a risk that I demand all musicians take from now on. Break down the walls of monotony, do something that makes someone point and open their mouth! On a side note... that singer has some lungs! Up there with Amy Lee and Stevie Nicks good.
To be honest, I was going to do a track by track review for this one as well and settled down, pen in hand, to take notes as I listened. However one track in particular took my attention and took up nearly three pages of notes on its own. We’ll get to that in a minute. For the rest of the album, it follows on fantastically from Hold the Vision. It’s not “more of the same,” it’s a natural progression, as the sound moves more from the rock to the metal end of the spectrum. I think the best way to describe it is having a darker tone, picking up on a few traits from the first half of the album and developing them. The percussion is heavier and much more complex, feeling almost experimental (in a very very good way) with several tempo changes within single tracks. The guitar-work too is a progression along a journey from the first half of the album. While remain at the same top class quality it is less intricate, more stripped back but more insistent and the melodies tend to take a minor key but always with Salem’s clear, lyrical and powerful voice being showcased. There is some amazing use of stereo throughout, especially on the first and third tracks as the sound moves from speaker to speaker very effectively, and listening through headphones is highly recommended. The track that the band have chosen for the single from this half of the album, Sweet Beast, is a perfect choice. It’s the last track on the album and picks up the upbeat sound from the first half again, effectively bringing the journey full circle, while still being the one that will appeal most to new listeners to the band.
However, I mentioned that one track on this album engendered much notepad scribbling and this is track 2, I Understand Nothing. This track... oh my gods, this track. This track had me standing up and pointing at the speakers in open mouthed awe as soon as it started. What a stunning intro, straight out of a Clint Eastwood movie!! The slow chime of a lonely church bell and a single bass guitar riff kicks in, playing what I can only describe as a melody-painting that evokes a wind-blown deserted Western town. It is a thing of beauty! You can “see” the tumbleweed, the cactuses and the cattle skulls above the swing door to the saloon where the lone cowboy stands, ready to fight.... I could go on and on about how evocative and beautiful it is and it goes on for a full minute. Just that. Wow. Adding to the beauty at that point is Salem’s voice over that single guitar riff – it made me literally cry, it was so wonderful. And then 2 and a half minutes in, a shimmer on the cymbals, so stunning that it puts a shiver up your spine, brings in the rest of the band and the chorus is so so satisfying rounding it off fantastically before it drops back again to a single guitar, Salem’s vocals and that cymbal again.
And then... and then...
I could almost, ALMOST have forgiven the abrupt change in tempo as being a nod to the 2112 genius of the prog rock gods of Rush but, at 4 minutes 45 seconds,...
WHAT THE TINKLY-SPRINKLY-WIND-CHIMING HELL IS THAT?!
Had I heard this right? Had my favourite Canadian band actually done the musical equivalent of jumping the shark? Was that really an out of tune child’s musical box randomly splashing messy finger paints over my beautiful mental imagery? This was very nearly my new favourite song in the world, ever, (yes, even surpassing Purple Rain) and they went and did that. I. WAS. LIVID. And utterly let down.
I played the track to a friend of mine* to make sure I wasn’t being over dramatic about this outburst, for indeed there was spluttering, swearing and drink spillage at this point. Thankfully though, that was the only issue (albeit a massive one for me) in another superb collection from One Soul Thrust. You can listen to both parts of the album below, separately and together, to experience the flow, hold the vision and trust the process of a wonderful band. It’s 95% perfect. And because of that, guys, I will try to forgive you the music-box chimes. Just don’t do it again, ok?
However, I mentioned that one track on this album engendered much notepad scribbling and this is track 2, I Understand Nothing. This track... oh my gods, this track. This track had me standing up and pointing at the speakers in open mouthed awe as soon as it started. What a stunning intro, straight out of a Clint Eastwood movie!! The slow chime of a lonely church bell and a single bass guitar riff kicks in, playing what I can only describe as a melody-painting that evokes a wind-blown deserted Western town. It is a thing of beauty! You can “see” the tumbleweed, the cactuses and the cattle skulls above the swing door to the saloon where the lone cowboy stands, ready to fight.... I could go on and on about how evocative and beautiful it is and it goes on for a full minute. Just that. Wow. Adding to the beauty at that point is Salem’s voice over that single guitar riff – it made me literally cry, it was so wonderful. And then 2 and a half minutes in, a shimmer on the cymbals, so stunning that it puts a shiver up your spine, brings in the rest of the band and the chorus is so so satisfying rounding it off fantastically before it drops back again to a single guitar, Salem’s vocals and that cymbal again.
And then... and then...
I could almost, ALMOST have forgiven the abrupt change in tempo as being a nod to the 2112 genius of the prog rock gods of Rush but, at 4 minutes 45 seconds,...
WHAT THE TINKLY-SPRINKLY-WIND-CHIMING HELL IS THAT?!
Had I heard this right? Had my favourite Canadian band actually done the musical equivalent of jumping the shark? Was that really an out of tune child’s musical box randomly splashing messy finger paints over my beautiful mental imagery? This was very nearly my new favourite song in the world, ever, (yes, even surpassing Purple Rain) and they went and did that. I. WAS. LIVID. And utterly let down.
I played the track to a friend of mine* to make sure I wasn’t being over dramatic about this outburst, for indeed there was spluttering, swearing and drink spillage at this point. Thankfully though, that was the only issue (albeit a massive one for me) in another superb collection from One Soul Thrust. You can listen to both parts of the album below, separately and together, to experience the flow, hold the vision and trust the process of a wonderful band. It’s 95% perfect. And because of that, guys, I will try to forgive you the music-box chimes. Just don’t do it again, ok?
* Editor note from my buddy Steve - let me jump in here and do some 'drumsplaining' for poor old Susan. You are absolutely correct about the 4 odd minutes at the start of this song, by the way this is the first time I've heard the band and only listened once so I'm judging only on this run through.
Stop looking for Rush in everything! They weren't that good, in fact one of the most overrated bands ever, and not everything will fit into your Neil Peart POV. What actually happened at the end of this tune surpasses anything Rush have achieved. The track took one of the most UNIQUE turns I've heard in music... ever, and I'm the son of a professional musician and drummer myself. It was exquisite, it was different, it was musically quite beautiful, in fact, if I do have to find a fault and I tried hard to I'd say anything pre 4.30 in the tracks run-time was generic rock. Good rock but challenging? Different? No. From 4.30 onwards the band show a risk that I demand all musicians take from now on. Break down the walls of monotony, do something that makes someone point and open their mouth! On a side note... that singer has some lungs! Up there with Amy Lee and Stevie Nicks good.
Consider me drumsplained... [Susan]
Image - One Soul Thrust
