American
musician Rod Kinny from Minnesota has always been interested in music.
He was already in a band at school, and later played bass guitar in
local rock bands. During his military service in the UK he started to
appreciate the music of Level 42, Peter Gabriel, The Prefab Sprout,
Scritti Pollitti etc. He then played in local rock bands, but that caused frustration, so he opted for a solo career. A solo album was released in 2002. Then it took until 2010 when 'Higher Self' was released, a West Coast oriented album. 'Forces of Nature' was released in 2017, and now a new album has been released digitally. This contains Rod's best tracks, plus 3 new songs. So he wrote all 18 songs himself.
'Windswept Highway' opens, on which Rod plays bass and rhythm guitar and sings. It is a West Coast rock song, after which the softer 'Under The Freeway' continues. 'Higher Self' continues in the same vein, and 'Mood Glow' is a mid-tempo track, while 'See the Stars' sounds more rhythmic.
Next comes 'Beyond the Impossible', which leans more towards smooth jazz. But 'Truth Vibrations' is more of a West Coast sound, after which 'Wonderland' is a quiet mid-tempo track. 'One Way Home' continues that sound, followed by 'Forces of Nature', which again sounds somewhat smooth jazzy.
'Old into New' is an oddity, and reminds me of folk. And 'Feargal Sharkey' goes on the country tour again. On 'Between Two Worlds' Rod feels lost since his wife left him, after which 'Topple Every Stone' reaches back to the West Coast. 'Water to Wine' follows that pattern, followed by 'These Times', which comes across as calm. On 'Robins & Blackbirds' Rod is vocally assisted by Rose Ovamot. The closing track 'Summertown' takes it easy again.
Although I expected a smooth jazz album, I think this fits less into that genre.
Tracks:
1 Windswept Highway
2 Under The Freeway
3 Higher Self
4 Mood Glow
5 See the Stars
6 Beyond the Impossible
7 Truth Vibrations
8 Wonderland
9 One Way Home
10 Forces of Nature
11 Old into New
12 Feargal Sharkey
13 Between Two Worlds
14 Topple Every Stone
15 Water to Wine
16 These Times
17 Robins & Blackbirds
18 Summertown