The Bateleurs – A Light In The Darkness

The Bateleurs
A Light In The Darkness
Label: Discos Macarras Records
Out: 01 October 2025
Playing time: 48:47

The Bateleurs are a Portuguese Blues Rock band. The band was founded … Well, as is so often the case, the founding date is a mystery. The first post on Facebook dates back to 23 September 2018. Is that a clue to the year the band was founded? I was also able to find out that the debut album ‘The Sun In The Tenth House’ was released in 2022. The follow-up, ‘A Light In The Darkness’, was released in October of this year. For this album, they were able to inspire a number of guest musicians.

Hard riffs open ‘A Price For My Soul’. Then Sandrine Orsini’s smoky blues voice kicks in. And she can clearly hold her own against the loudness of the band. At the beginning of ‘Widow Queen’, clear but equally powerful guitar sounds can be heard. And as with the opener, there is extremely powerful Blues Rock on the ears. After the beat-setting drumstick as an introduction to ‘For All To See’, the guitars screech again. A slide guitar can also be heard here. A Hammond wobbles along with it. Otherwise, the song moves in the bluesy mid-tempo range. Sandrine’s vocals are supported by a chorus. The Portuguese also go all out in the following section. Distorted bass line, distorted guitars on ‘Dancing On A String’, hard drums to guitar melodies on ‘Never Back Down’, clean guitar chords and calm vocals on ‘The Lighthouse’. Blues rock can be so varied. But whether midtempo or ballad, the sound is always powerful. Sandrine Orsini is able to show off her vocal diversity on the ballad ‘The Lighthouse’ in particular. After calm, fragile-sounding vocals, the singer literally explodes. Only to later present her ethereal voice again. Once again, the Hammond can be heard in the background. In ‘Best Of Days’, the riffs once again bang rhythmically out of the speakers. The songstress follows this rhythm with her vocal performance. The sound hardly changes during what are obviously the last two regular songs. Both ‘Gardens Of Babylon’ and ‘Down The Garden Path’ are guitar-heavy and are often refined by the use of slide guitar and Hammond. But the essential element of all the songs is the versatile voice of singer Sandrine Orsini. Only ‘Before The Morning Is Done’ doesn’t quite seem to fit on this album. This acoustic ballad is the point of calm at the end of the album. And probably the bonus track hinted at in the guest line-up. Sandrine’s voice sounds slightly fragile. At times the words are only breathed. The folkloristic instrumentation with violin and Irish flute matches this.

With her golden throat, Sandrine Orsini is an outstanding singer. She is the band’s figurehead. Of course, her voice is also and above all supported by the instruments of her bandmates. The Blues Rock of The Bateleurs definitely has an American flavour. Powerfully produced and with varied songs. An outstanding album.

The Bateleurs – A Price For My Soul: https://youtu.be/as1P3oSjUaM?si=K7bO3cZidqdww_NS

Lineup:

Sandrine Orsini – Vocals
Ricardo Dikk – Bass
Ricardo Galrão – Guitar
Rui Reis – Drums

Guests:

Tiago Maia – Slide Guitar
Nuno Louro – Hammond Organ
João Colaço – Drums on two tracks
Ruben Monteiro – Irish Flute
Niklos Pavliidis – Violin on a CD only bonus track

Track list:

• A Price For My Soul
• Widow Queen
• For All To See
• Dancing On A String
• Never Back Down
• The Lighthouse
• Best Of Days
• Gardens Of Babylon
• Down The Garden Path
• Before The Morning Is Done