Album review overview: Aedan Sky, Cécile McLorin Salvant and more

Dozens of new albums arrive at Maxazine’s editorial staff every week. There are way too many to listen to them all, let alone review them. It ensures that too many albums are left behind. And that’s a shame. That is why today we post an overview of albums that arrive at the editors in short reviews.

Aedan Sky – The Universal Realm

Multi-instrumentalist Sébastien Chabot is the guitarist and vocalist of the French power metal band Galderia and bassist/composer with Kingcrown. His brand new solo project is called Aedan Sky. The début album “The Universal Realm” contains melodious power metal. This metal opera concerns a cosmic journey towards spiritual awakening and universal consciousness. The instrumental opening is calm, then the metal kicks in. This is alternated with several quieter parts/classical elements. The contrast in volume between these is fairly small. Both instrumentally and vocally, the tempo is sometimes extremely high. Three lead singers portray the roles of the main characters: Sky, Aedan and Sky’s Soul. Their voices differ, yet sometimes it’s a bit of a ‘search’ to know who’s singing what. When the vocals go against each other, it’s not easy to understand everything. But the voices form an excellent blend. For a metal opera, the sound isn’t full/rich enough. Besides this, there are mainly positive points, including for guitar playing. The atmosphere on “The Universal Realm” suits the lyrics and the rousing music. (Esther Kessel Tamerus) (7/10) (Rockshots Records)

Shawn Purcell – Oblivity

There’s jazz and there’s hardcore jazz: hard-bop. And that’s the first thing you get served when you put on “Oblivity” by guitarist Shawn Purcell. The tempo is immediately high in the title track, which is also the opener, with captivating improvisations from the first saxophone and piano, before Purcell himself lets his virtuoso fingers glide lightning-fast over the strings. That saxophone is played by Walt Weiskopf, incidentally, a well-kept secret in jazz but with a solid track record with the likes of Sinatra and Buddy Rich. Purcell succeeds in capturing a beautiful mix of diverse bop styles in his own compositions. Metheny, Coltrane, Silver and Shorter: the influences are clearly recognisable. It delivers a varied record with surprising elements that sometimes catch you off guard. The ten-minute “Verdigris” opens, for example, with siren-like singing before transitioning into a catchy Latin groove. In this Purcell again leaves plenty of room for the piano work of Chris Ziemba and the saxophone of Weiskopf. A resting point is “Gentle Giant” with very subtle, clean, soft-tone guitar work and an impressive acoustic bass solo by Jeff Reed. But it’s the up-tempo pieces that give this record its character, with “Move the Needle” as the highlight: hard-bop in the finest tradition of this genre, where Purcell doesn’t shy away from making his guitar sound surprisingly different: in this track, fitted with a proper shred solo with overdrive and even an octave divider as an added effect. Naturally, the guitar work takes centre stage, but Purcell proves with “Oblivity” to also be a gifted composer with dynamic pieces in which traditional bop and modern jazz connect seamlessly. (Jeroen Mulder) (7/10) (Origin Records)

The Imaginaries – Fever

It happens quite often in the music world: a married couple forms a music group. However, we don’t often see a début album by such a band or indeed any music artist being a Christmas album. Both the former and the latter is the case with the American folk/country rock group The Imaginaries. They recently released their third album, the second that isn’t in a Christmas or other holiday theme. Several guest artists also participate here, who are certainly not the least significant names. With guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa, they perform “Crossroads”, which is also their most-streamed track. Country legend and more than 20-time Grammy winner Vince Gill also plays on a track. “Whole Lotta Livin'” is indeed in that style and also a real earworm, a feel-good song. Furthermore, this album consists of lovely harmonising and excellent songs, together with the two highlighted numbers, making it a lovely album. (Rik Moors) (7/10) (The Imaginaries Music Ltd.)

Peter Campbell – Haunted Melody

Jacques Brel? Really? Indeed: “Song for Old Lovers” is an adaptation of Brel’s “La Chanson Des Vieux Amants”. Your reviewer is a Brel fan and always somewhat wary when someone covers Grand Jacques, but the version by Canadian singer and producer Peter Campbell is wonderfully beautiful. It’s not the only cover on “Haunted Melody”: Campbell also adapted “No One After You” by Leonard Cohen and “He Never Mentioned Love” by Curtis Lewis. The choice for greats like Cohen and Brel reveals that Campbell is primarily a storyteller: songs must be about something, have depth. A storyteller with a delightful voice, because this must be said: the Canadian is blessed with a voice you can listen to for hours. The choice of repertoire on “Haunted Melody” reveals something else as well, because you immediately see and hear that these tracks are a reflection of someone who has felt lonely. That’s correct. Campbell went through a period of grief: besides a divorce, the Canadian also had to process the loss of both his parents at the end of 2024. He processes this on “Haunted Melody”. Beautiful, sustained pieces with arrangements in the style of Bacharach (listen especially to the closing track “If Ever (Saudade De Amar)”, in which Campbell is accompanied by a selection of top musicians. Don’t expect extravagances, but curl up in an easy chair and let “Haunted Melody” wash over you. Lovely. (Jeroen Mulder) (7/10) (Peter Campbell)

Cécile McLorin Salvant – Oh Snap

With her previous albums “Ghost Song” and “Mélusine”, MacArthur Fellow Cécile McLorin Salvant proved that she belongs to the very greatest jazz singers of our time. On “Oh Snap”, however, the three-time Grammy winner ventures into a radical experiment that will astonish her traditional audience. These thirteen miniature songs originated in her home studio, where Salvant experimented for the first time with GarageBand, AutoTune and MIDI plugins. The result feels like an intimate diary in which her childhood memories of the Miami music scene of the nineties are central. From the hypnotic title track, which is reminiscent of Madonna’s “Ray of Light” period, to the playful cover of The Commodores’ “Brick House”, Salvant shows her versatility. The absolute highlight is “Expanse”, where her classical jazz elegance merges with modern production techniques. Unfortunately, the album as a whole lacks the cohesion of her earlier masterworks. Tracks like “A Little Bit More” with heavy autotune effects seem more like disco hits than deeply felt artistic statements. “Oh Snap” is a courageous artistic quest for spontaneity and joy, and therefore, the die-hard jazz lover may be put off, but if you just let yourself go and let yourself be carried along, then this is a brilliant album. (Jan Vranken) (8/10) (Nonesuch Records)