Gotta love this one – Portuguese musician/actor and veteran of musicals Diogo Lima has just released a great debut under the name John Black Wolf and it’s definitely one that’s worth a listen; and whilst it’s somewhat Blues-based there are all kinds of textures and colours and it is very enjoyable indeed.
Opener ‘Born to Win’ opens theatrically enough with tolling bell and a spoken voice piece that is semi-recurring theme here, that is before the guitar kicks in and the vocals kick in over a Steinman-like back-beat and backing vocals. It’s a nice intro but not the story of the album which has all kinds of twists and turns to come.
Second up ‘Alone in The Dark’ is a great Blues rocker with accents of Clapton and even Dire Straits; and from the Pop driven beat and Gospel backing vocals of ‘You Fire is Hotter Than Hell’ you have something else completely again. Before we’re half-way home the piano ballad ‘Last Train Home’ has strains of Springsteen and a gentle insistence that draws you in before upping the emotion. It’s just another example of how well Lima turns his hand to a real variety of compositions.
Some tracks like ‘The City of Broken Wings’ with it’s poetic spoken word musings are maybe an acquired taste but they are also nice distractions and if you take the album as a whole they fit nicely into the bigger picture. Other highlights include the heartfelt balladry of ‘Call Up’ and the even better tear-jerker ‘Before I Am Gone’, a song that even gets an acoustic workout to close the album.
Very enjoyable.