Laura Cox ‘Burning Bright’
Album Review By Adam McCann
earMusic Records/Blues/Rock
The genre of blues/rock has been well-worn with a formula that although pretty standard, keeps throwing up excellent new editions and interpretations. That is what happened with Laura Cox, the half-English, half-French blues mistress talks a mean game with her sexy slide guitar and golden voice that oozes with emotion and soul as Cox continues blazing her trail across the blues/rock landscape with her latest album ‘Burning Bright’.
‘Burning Bright’ has everything that any fan of this genre could ever want, foot stomping, bar room blues that reeks of cigarettes, liquor and regret as Cox pours her heart and soul into every note, whether it is guitar or vocal. To achieve this, Cox throws plenty of sounds into a musical blues blender and returns with a fresh palette of sounds; ‘Burning Bright’ has all the anthemic qualities of Bad Company, Humble Pie or even Led Zeppelin as Cox prowls through the speaker with legato riffs and big chorus’ best seen on ‘Fire Fire’, ‘Last Breakdown’ and ‘Bad Luck Blues’. Furthermore, there are touches of ZZ Top with some fierce Billy F. Gibbons style staccato fuzz box voodoo, trading off with the more subtle, adult tones of Thunder or Joe Bonamassa’s latest work. But what Cox also demonstrates that she is the master of the ballad as she makes the guitar weep and moan in a way that can only be appreciated by fans of King King and Bonnie Raitt, making the listener feel every ounce of emotion in songs such as ‘Just Another Man’ and the sombre, slow burning closing track ‘Letters To The Otherside’.
What Cox achieves with ‘Burning Bright’, is an album of extremely enjoyable tracks that are sing-a-long from the start, loaded with big hooks and melodies that are guaranteed to be in the listeners head for weeks. ‘Burning Bright’ manages to breathe new life into an already well-worn genre and whilst there are no surprises here; the album does everything that it needs to do and is therefore best enjoyed with a glass of liquor after a long day.
Rating : 84/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
