We have been lucky enough to discover the latest album by the phenomenally talented artist, Steve Hensby. Together with his band, ‘Chase The Sun’ is a release which is filled with catchy melodies, rich harmonies and utterly delicious tunes galore!

The opening song is the title track from the album and it sets the scene beautifully. It is upbeat and fun throughout with driving instrumentation. The vocals are melodic, catchy and charming. We hear a luscious 5 piece horn section which we will hear many times throughout the record. They lift the sound beautifully and enhance the already rich audio landscape.

There are so many ear-catching songs on this record, it is hard to pick a favourite. We adored, ‘Tale of a Slide Trombone’ for its Spanish feel. The trombone takes the centre stage which feels unusual but works extremely well. We loved ‘Loving Heart’ because it has a driving bass and drums from the start with a carnival feel in the middle of the track. There are semitone changes in the chords and an overall enriching feel. The final song, ‘Scarlet Night’ hears long horn notes for a foundation for the vocals to spring from. The two create wonderful harmonies between one another too. Amazing.

Our favourite song is ‘Passport Smiles’. It is one of the simplest songs instrumentation wise but the guitar work and vocal arrangements make it simply stunning. It is an acoustic song which is a significant change to what we have heard before. There is an extremely well-played acoustic guitar using the Travis picking style. The vocals have been double tracked and the addition of luscious harmonies make the song shine bright.

The Steve Hensby Band are comprised of, Steve Hensby – Guitar and Vocals, Elysia Murphy – Keys and Vocals, Laura Halligan – Trumpet, Ned Holland – Trombone, Marc Osbourne – Alto Sax, Dylan Hooper – Tenor Sax, Meg Davidson – Baritone Sax, Karl Florisson – Bass and vocals and Greg Brenton – Drums. The musicianship they possess is second to none and all are clearly masters in their respective fields. The arrangements of the songs are clever throughout and the listener comes to expect the unexpected from this incredible band. 

If you are looking for something a little different, we implore you to check out this release. It will be your go-to soundtrack to summer 2019. We will be watching with eager anticipation to see what will come next from such an exciting band!

FVMusicBlog July 2019

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