Album Review: “MIDNIGHT MELODY” by Elliott Waits for No-One

A lot is packed into Midnight Melody but EWFNO smash through this to ensure their follow up to the self-titled classic will surely get the same reception.

Christian John

 

 

Midnight Melody is a 14-track modern day classic by the US rock band Elliott Waits For No One, which takes you on a journey through American music, ranging from rock, folk, jazz, blues and more. It is a more upbeat catalogue than the enormous debut Elliott Waits For No One, highlighting their huge range showing the real depth to their musicality. Midnight Melody moves away from the strings inspired on the debut and more into diverse arrangements, and knowing the back catalogue of this band, you wonder what this band cannot do?

It is easy to forget the myriad of music genres that have generated in the United States in the 20th century, but EWFNO, a true supergroup led by Brian Troch and Jenny Franck (with a host of incredibly talented contributors) have managed to capture so many of them whilst also encompassing 21st Century echoes to deliver a full opus of sounds. There is still some grunge, hard rock bangers and subtlety as was prevalent in EWFNO but the full diversity comes to the fore in Midnight Melody.

Immediately as you enter the world of Midnight Melody you can hear folk rock that the band has become synonymous with.
As demonstrated in their superb debut album with tracks such as “Original Sin” and “You Can’t See Through Me” Jenny’s vocal brings forth a comfort to it, as if relaxing in front of a fire. Her voice is just as mesmerising on tracks such as “Time Loop” and “Flame”. Time Loop (the opening track) kicks in with Jenny’s haunting vocals and the duos’s dark lyrics (“You found me in a shallow grave” and “our love is for all eternity”) suggest heartbreak and loss. In the radio-friendly “Flame” Jennys vocal is like warm comfortable slippers yet you can imagine this folk-rock track live as it could cascade into a long solo returning back to the folk rock centre.

Both Jenny and Brian’s talents are on display with their vocals and musicality as the album turns into jazz, boogie-woogie & swing. The instantly recognisable foot-tapping feel good track, “Marry My Girl” makes you smile (you can imagine this being on oodles of adverts) but then with “Mad Dog” the foot-tapping continues where Dixieland jazz meets rock’n’roll with Brian singing in a Louis Armstrong-esque vocal. For friends of the debut, there are many rock bangers still on show, but the journey of Americana is on display further with the Hammond organ, horns, pop and soul inspired “Do It With You”.

On the first album Brian’s vocals were haunting and full of feeling (such as with Megalomaniac) and this returns with emotive tracks such as the blues/soul track “Everything I’ll Ever Need” as with “Do It With You”. His diversity is on full show with the Eddie Vedder-esque “Until the Last Leaf Falls” and full throttle rock vocals is still intact throughout. You still get the Pearl Jam folk vibe later in the instrumental (with superb string accompaniment) on “In the Trees”, but vocally Brian shows again his diversity as on the debut album with powerful rock vocals throughout.

From the word go the lyrics and storytelling smashes you straight in the face. Along with Jenny’s haunting vocals in Time Loop did I hear a Stephen King’s “It” reference with the “Yummy in my Tummy” line? Perhaps this author is just imagining it.

As you listen to this fantastic album you can hear many radio-friendly tracks as well as those at home in a classic album, and you wonder how singles will be selected as so many diverse singles could be offered. The folk-rock track “Skywalker” not only could you imagine on many radio stations but can cross over into reggae and could even be a reggae classic. But aligning to Brian’s other rock-based projects there is still a great energy of rock and grunge (another American classic genre!) but standouts such as “The Crazies Swoon”, the heavier “Chameleon” and even heavier “Energy Vampires”. “The Crazies Swoon” has everything from a Nine Inch Nails opening to polka and mariachi horns before a banging rock finish.

One of the key differentiators with EWFNO is that their range ensures there is pretty much something for everyone – something for headbangers, something for a laid-back Sunday and yet there is even space for the totally different such as with the mad banger “Unbreaded” (with horns and blazing rock synonymous with the driving progressive beat in a 60s/70s cop show) and the melodic Huckleberry Hound lullaby from the title track Midnight Melody that you can easily imagine singing this to your child.

A lot is packed into Midnight Melody but EWFNO smash through this to ensure their follow up to the self-titled classic will surely get the same reception.

To pre-save this fantastic album go here.

 

For more information on Elliot Waits for No-One you can see their full profile with bio, music and awesome videos here.