‘Instincts’ is the latest release from the Baltimore based artist, Josh Christina. Christina’s unique Rockabilly sound is evident throughout this brilliant recording with blues additions and catchy melodies. His sound is truly mesmerising. The piano and vocal are the backbone to all of the songs with a hammond organ, guitars, bass and drums playing in the supporting cast. ’Instincts’ offers hard hitting, dance provoking, soulful music throughout and is a thoroughly enjoyable listen.
‘Instincts’ begins with the track ‘Friend Zone’. The song opens with a beautifully played piano with a strong sense of the Rockabilly genre which flavours the record throughout. The piano offers boogie woogie elements which would be perfectly suited for Jools Holland’s Hootenanny in December. There is a strong, inviting country element continuously driving in the background.
The stand out tracks are hard to pick because the record is so strong as a whole. If we were forced to choose they would be, ‘Counting Sheep’ for it’s honest lyrics, ‘Blasted in the Basement’ for its driving pace and the ‘The Good Book’ which showcases Christina’s piano playing ability. All of these tracks offer different tempos, flavours and colours which are integral to make ‘Instincts’ stand out from the crowd in a busy market.
Our all time favourite track on this album is, ‘Letters’. It is simply stunning. It’s the 3rd track in the running order and it is completely different to what we have heard on the first two songs. It beings with a dissonant piano which then begins to flow and gives the feeling it could be a classic standard with its gentle barrage of 7th chords and melodic vocal accompaniment. There is a gorgeous, smooth and inviting guitar solo too. It has a Billy Joel feel about it and if it came onto our radio we would turn up the volume every time.
We absolutely adored Christina’s vocal performance on this album. His deep, soulful and intoxicating voice is simply sublime. He delivers all of the songs with passion and the maturity of his song writing will appeal to many different people.
Coming from a musical background, with a drummer father, singer mother and a grandmother who was a big band singer in the ’40’s and ’50’s, Christina’s musical heritage can be heard and felt touching the soul frequently on this album. These founding influences are used to drawn upon his pure natural talent and aptitude.
Christina also has an impressive back catalogue and we are so thrilled to have been introduced to his work. We can not wait to hear what comes next!
Reviewed by FVReviews August 2018
http://www.joshchristinamusic.com/
https://twitter.com/JoshChristina57
Leave a Reply