CD REVIEW: ‘BURNING BRIGHT’ – LAURA COX BY ROQUE LAZARUS FOR COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE & RADIO SHOW

CD REVIEW: ‘BURNING BRIGHT’ – LAURA
COX

BY ROQUE LAZARUS FOR COUNTRY MUSIC
NEWS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE & RADIO SHOW

 

01. FIRE FIRE                                          3:52

02. BAD LUCK BLUES                           3:15

03. LAST BREAKDOWN                        3:52

04. LOOKING UPSIDE DOWN              4:10

05. JUST ANOTHER GAME                   4:44

06. HERE’S TO WAR                                4:05

07. FREAKING OUT LOUD                    3:20

08. AS I AM                                                4:44

09. RIVER                                                  4:54

10. LETTERS TO THE OTHER SIDE  4:06

LAURA COX BAND: Formed in 2013 by
LAURA COX: GUITARS/LEAD VOX

With GUITARIST:  Mathieu Albiac

BASSIST: Francois C. Delacoudre

DRUMS:  Antonin Guérin

ABOUT HER BAND-MATES LAURA SAYS
“I like writing our songs with Mathieu (guitarist in the band), we’ve
known each other for a long time, and it feels really natural to work with him.
Most of the time, we find the guitar parts first, then the lyrics, and we
arrange everything during rehearsals with François (bassist) and Antonin
(drummer).”

 

SHE DESCRIBES HER STYLE AND GENRE OF
MUSIC AS ‘SOUTHERN HARD-BLUES’

SAYS LAURA
IN AN INTERVIEW, “My first memories of guitar playing were when my dad
used to play country music in the car when I was little. Later, I became
interested in rock music and decided to pick up the guitar in high school with
some friends. That’s funny because I remember going to see a Disney movie
twice, called “Freaky Friday,” and I believe it really motivated me to start
playing guitar!”

First
impressions: I asked a friend who is a Live Sound Engineer and a great keyboard
player/Guitarist/Bassist/arranger to watch a video of LAURA COX where she is
playing an acoustic guitar and singing a song.

He
listened patiently till the end and while watching her pluck and croon.

 He said to me: “Laura Cox has a very tight
sense of rhythm in her playing and that too without any accompaniment!  She plays with ease and has a good feel. She
can be easily noticed and chosen by some accomplished band for an album which
can make a hit at the charts! Wishing her all the best!” – Constancio Diniz (Goa, India). I
mentioned later that Laura has her own band now and has already released her
own album titled ‘Burning Bright’. He was very pleased to hear!

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01.
FIRE FIRE- Opening with a well-marked riff in ROCK-SHUFFLE- like the style
DR.BLUES, with a good crossover the band makes a strong statement that they
will retain our attention hence-forth! Laura’s voice comes fiery yet with a
subtle huskiness but a heavy affinity to stick to the beat! The pretty lady who
appeared on youtube.com with her solo guitar videos has come a long way till
here in the land of limelight, I muse! Gibson Les Paul Classic live ABLY WEIDED
by our rock star, the simple song spins a dramatic coda in operatic-rock
fashion!

02.
BAD LUCK BLUES – A sudden entry of vocals with the words “Bad Luck blues keeps
gettin in my way!’

I
am convinced she will be a great operatic-rocker soon “No one will save me
anyway”, she emotes in a heart wrenched with agony!

A
sizzling solo on a straight 8 beat rock variation on the middle solo. A great
chord progression makes a secret bridge come to life. When you drive your
guitar through overdrives are a J.Rockett Archer, and a Solodallas Storm you
know what!! A long harmonic note on the guitar spelling ‘mi” for a
straight 4 bars wired through the bands signature ORANGE amps ends abruptly but
with great flair with the voice cutting-off in perfect synch to the band.

03.
LAST BREAKDOWN- a pocket radio simulated guitar starts off humbly a blues motif
in the distance and as it draws closer culminating in a mighty crescendo roll
in 24 triplet quavers (unless of course you are in 6/8 MUSICALLY and still
having 24 but quavers here.

Laura
pleads there is “no need to medicate” . A breakdown solo for bass
playing a no-nonsense figure with the lead guitar coming in quietly at the
turn-around. The wonder of the mix where a blues guitar sounds like blues is
aptly demonstrated by a sound-engineers expertise. Of course giving credit to
the recordist for micking the ORANGE amps well and at the right place.

04.
LOOKING UPSIDE DOWN- A ‘Steve Morse’ seeming inspired guitar swell but
reminding of Joe Satrianis harmonix. Laura’s guitar skills have been driving
fans wild the world over and here you can actually listen to her with her own
band LAURA COX BAND. She is singing about ‘Looking upside down for a meaning as
it suddenly makes sense to her’. The mix is consistent throughout the album and
well placed with the respective players. Here suddenly I hear pleasing twin
distorted guitars in harmony of 3rds. A half-time breakdown on the drums having
an energetic drummer catch his breath albeit briefly. The swirls of volume
swell technique is a plus point in Laura’s arsenal.

05.
JUST ANOTHER GAME- Finally you hear Ms.COX strum the acoustic in this wide
open-canvas of moving instruments. A pleasant sensation prevails in the ear
drums for a little solitude with a tremolo-guitar and a slide to boot! The compositions
are fairly impressive where hopingly her melodies will be sung a tunes by our
grandchildren in the dusk of our lives. This ‘Folky-Rocky-Blues’ delivers the slide
solo guitar to a complete standstill where Laura croons ‘I’m a rocker you’re a
roller so let’s ride”. There is little dynamic contrast in the volume of
the vocals but maybe it’s just the compressor at hard-knee I can’t really say
but it sounds good to be uniform!

06.
HERE’S TO WAR – Rolling Toms bring to mind the horrors of impending doom due to
the ultimate war and abuse of power! A thoughtful ostinato hard-panned as a
filler in the wings answers also as a subtle interlude. A guitar solo hurtles
by in a mad dash of flurried notes. Splashes and Crashes and rides and
side-sticks dot the vast armory of the drummer’s armory as he brilliantly
composes his break-beats, phrasing tutti with the pumping Bass and raunchy backing
guitar.

07.
FREAKING OUT LOUD- Here you would think NUNO BETTENCOURTS Sister had suddenly
come on stage during an Extreme gig!!

But
well-inspired and I liked it getting the funk up! This ROCK-FUNK-BLUES has a
heavier sound to it than all the songs heard previously. The magic of standard
Ernie Ball 9-46 guitar strings I guess! The pick bassist is having a ball of a
time and the rhythm guitarist is driving a wall of 6 voice harmony up another
stack! Is this RAP-ROCK!! I’m also reminded of ROXETTE but these guys are in a
new zone!

WOW!
That’s Laura doing arpeggio with an edge in a silken smooth fluidity that takes
my breath away! Again a great sudden ending! WOOH!

08.
AS I AM- Thematically sound in its discipline keeping to the genre and
cautiously alternating between the permissible parameter of
Rock-Blues-Funk-Ballad this album really grows on you for its honesty and
sticking to its ‘sound’ that maybe the Engineers had in mind.

This
track suddenly  has the ‘by-now ‘familiar’
breakdown and a ‘poco-a-poco’ crescendo’
inches ever so close to the end with only a few gasps of air left in my dancing
lungs and SHOCKS ME OUT OF MY WITS with a double-time shuffle with a burst of
speed on the guitar though brief. I must give it to her she can shred!  Heavily influenced by AC/DC, Sheryl Crow,
Halestorm, Blackberry Smoke and Black Stone Cherry, she along with her
co-guitarist make mince-vegetable of the chops and riffs and licks and then
there flows the usual sudden ending!!

09.
RIVER- An acoustic entry to a quickly followed distorted figure on
triple-struck tom toms. Rock-Funk with a trace of HIP-HOP and a cross between
Ugly kid Joe and We will rock you as she ‘can’t remember me my name!”  Here I must state that I greatly respect the
artist and her talent along that of her great band. The references to existing
artists or bands is just to compare on my experiential palate.  “Nao Nao Now”-replies Laura as she
breaks into a classic rock solo with long logical phrases and quaver runs on
sequences.

AT
THIS POINT I swap my cans round left to right…for a queer kick! A surprising
fade-out ‘outro’ makes me smile!

10.
LETTERS TO THE OTHERSIDE- A Somber Sober slide guitar with a funeral snare drum
doing military paradiddles and rudiments.

 A power-ballad with a COUNTRY-Rock Flavor yet
with bluesy notes in her voice. This young French lass who loves the Lion King Soundtrack
by Elton John, sighs as she sings the refrain ‘ha ha ha ha’ you are obliged to
hum with her along with the backing vocals. ‘Sending letters to the angels in
the afterlife where reality separates the illusion in the matrix through the
thin parting veil of life and death! 

 

     
——-LAURACOX*BURNINGBRIGHT——                                                                                                  

A
Professional Video director and studio-owner who likes to play guitar to
accompany his own songs and who listens to lots of modern international acts
says this when I requested him to check LAURA COX Pre-release link. Quoting
Bobby Godinho, ” Awesome vocals; can understand every word. The band
sounds very tight! Some nice riffs here and there. Only drawback is lack of
supporting vocal harmony…”- is his only regret to his otherwise
encouraging observations! He exclaims further, “In track 09 ‘Rivers’
completely changed to Funk-Rocky style” -He enthusiastically concludes!

 

I
requested another friend who is a pioneer of sorts in MIDI and wishes to stay
incognito. He is a studio sound engineer, singer, flautist and guitarist, a
producer besides topping in Physics and has made ‘sound and balance ‘, a
statement of his life. He shares his precious time too like my other friends kindly
in this write-up for LAURA COX today. 

He
says about LAURA COX, “My first thought watching her YouTube posts: so young
yet such effortless virtuosity! Listening to her cover of Hendrix, most others
struggle to render the heavy accents that Hendrix laid, but she delivered
cleanly…

As
for the recording aspects of her sound she creates, she is astutely adept at
recording a shimmering Dobro sound as much as she is at capturing a powerful
rock electric guitar performance. An artiste recording an acoustic guitar
requires a totally different skill set than recording an electric guitar. Laura
has surely mastered the techniques of capturing her performances, be it getting
those thick, distorted guitars or the cutting lead guitar tones on her Sweet
Home Alabama cover. Elsewhere it baffled me that those octave chords were so
distorted yet still so clear, don’t know if what i am saying will make sense to
you as only a recording engineer will understand the feeling of trying to
create those tones in the studio…” 

 

Well
now that you have had four various views on LAURAS album BURNING BRIGHT are you
not curious and want to see her videos and specially listen to her powerful
song and music along with her band on ‘BURNING BRIGHT’; this GREAT ALBUM? Hear
the preview: 

This is LAURA COX WEBSITE: https://www.lauracoxband.com/

 

THIS
IS LAURA COX verified FB page and other social platforms   

   https://www.facebook.com/lauracoxofficial/

I have been also doing my home-work
on the FRENCH ROCKER who loves to wear Van sneaker shoes and watching all her well-produced
solo videos but this album is totally something-else! 

I urge you to watch her interviews at
CMNI and also her websites and links but DO MAKE SURE you BUY her music for
yourself and to gift to your dear ones.