Dan Patlansky - Introvertigo (2016)

Despite a lengthy career, Dan Patlansky only truly arrived on the international scene with 2015’s stunning ‘Dear Silence Thieves’. A stinging retort against those who insist on talking their way through live shows, ‘Dear Silence Thieves was, and is, a masterpiece – a hard rocking, blues-fueled explosion of heavy riffing and memorable melodies. Spawning two singles, ‘backbite’ and ‘fetch your spade’ and a high profile support slot with guitar god Joe Satriani, the album propelled Dan Patlansky’s career deservedly into the stratosphere, and so it is with no small amount of expectation that ‘Introvertigo’ arrived on our doorstep. Described by Dan as his most accomplished album to date, ‘Introvertigo’ does much to capture the chimerical emotions of an artist propelled further into the spotlight than he ever expected and yet, paradoxically, it looks set to push Dan ever-further up the ladder of success with its hard hitting riffs and potent anthems.

Previewed on the last tour, ‘run’ opens the album like a thunderbolt. A raw, brutal blast that perfectly captures Dan’s sweat-soaked live performances, ‘Run’ is everything you’ve come to expect from Dan and more with a carefully restrained verse giving way to a chorus that is as savage an expression of ecstasy as can be found on record. In contrast, ‘Poor old john’ is a trad-blues number that draws upon Dan’s gritty voice and a gnarled guitar riff that is straight out of a Louisiana swamp. With a swinging chorus and a solo that emerges woozily from chiming reverb and fizzing distortion, ‘poor Old John’ is a memorable outing, only for ‘Sonnova faith’ to kick out a loose groove that heads off into Texas for its inspiration. With a huge drum beat underpinning the hotwired riff and Dan’s dusty vocal ringing out clear over it all, ‘Sonnova faith’ is a rock ‘n’ roll gem that sounds like Rival sons jamming on ZZ Top and it flat out rocks. A slower, more introspective piece, ‘loosen up the grip’ is set to a lone piano, Dan building the song gently adding in a guitar solo here or a taut beat there. Arguably the sort of anthem that Kings of Leon always dreamed of writing, ‘loosen up the grip’ is a beautifully arranged song and a reminder of Dan’s versatility. The first side concludes with ‘heartbeat’, an album highlight which sounds like Aerosmith and Guns ‘n’ Roses going head to head with the Allman Brothers. Dark, bluesy and heavy as a sledgehammer, ‘heartbeat’ is surely the album’s next single. (sonicabuse.com)