Two immediate reactions to listening to Marcus King's fifth opus: phew! After "the not bad but making people fear a musical drift" Eldorado, he returns with a very 70'-tinged album, full of rock, a hint of funk and soul, and above all, crossed by huge riffs and carried by a big sound! Then, after several listenings, it is confirmed that this is not just a comeback but, perhaps, one of the best records of this year... (in all fairness with "Tornillo" by the Whyskey Myers ). "Good and gone", "Aim high", "Pain" seem directly inspired by both the best of rock-blues, I would dare to mention Free and Bad Co, but also ZZ Top, carried by very heavy and greasy riffs, and Marcus having made good progress on vocals, these pieces quickly become indispensable. We can only thank Dan Auerbach who, once the fears of the previous album have been dispelled, brings to the young Marcus (only 26 years old) a maturity, a musical environment which should lead him very far. Do not deprive yourself of appreciating the playing of drummer Chris Saint Hilaire, who fills all the spaces and propels this album very high. Marcus King does not forget his first (superb) albums and offers us with "Blues worse than i ever had" a very good title which will crescendo and will delight fans of the genre. But what about "Hard working man" sweating the Southern Lynyrdian a hundred leagues, "Pain" "boogizing" like a first ZZ TOP... Listen to the intro of "Rescue me" and you will be teleported into the deepest bayous of Creedence, "Dark cloud" brings up the power and the 70' spirit of this album, which will reach new heights with "It's too late" impregnated with hard-soul-blues and carried by a kick ass rhythm section! Listen to "Blood on the tracks" on the volume all the way up, you won't come out unscathed. Written by Desmond Child, it's in the same vein as his "I was made for loving you" by Kiss... And if you have them, put back on the turntable Marcus' first two albums, when he still played "Band" next to his surname and you will understand that, if he doesn't get lost along the way, this guy has everything of a great man in terms of his discography.

Chris MARQUIS, translation Y. Philippot-Degand