By Monk
You could perhaps be forgiven for believing that, after a break of seven all-too long years, a band would come roaring towards you like a pimped up Harley Davidson and crash through your front door with a strident declaration that “WE’RE BACK!”. In the case of The Answer, however, the renascent Northern Irish quartet have come sauntering up the side street in which ÜRHQ is located, knocked politely, handed us a bottle of smooth sippin’ whiskey and asked “can we come in?” Of course, you can boys…
Having said that, ‘Sundowners’ is something of a natural progression for the band and sounds as if they’ve never been anyway, picking up where the likes of ‘New Horizon’ and ‘Solas’ in particular left off all those years ago, combing and combining the Zeppelin-esque retro groove of the former with the denser, Celtic folk-infused vibe of the latter, as well as the heavy blues rock punch of the likes of ‘Rise’ and ‘Raise A Little Hell’ into an homogeneous and naturally flowing album that admittedly takes a while to worm its way into your aural cortexes but makes the experience all the more rewarding for taking the time to do so.
Kicking off with the epic, six-and-a-half minute title track, ‘Sundowners’ struts and swaggers with the confidence of both experience and self-belief, Paul Mahon’s dark, smouldering riffs and harmonics combining with Cormac Neeson’s almost haunting vocals. Actually, “smouldering” is a very apt descriptive for this album, as it has the feeling of a volcano lying dormant, seething and broiling beneath the surface before erupting in short, sharp, dynamic bursts of pure energy which burn deep into your darkened heart and soul.
‘Sundowners’ is definitely, and defiantly, a slow burner of an album. It doesn’t immediately grab you, but at the same time persuades you to return, time and again, to explore its multiple layers further. The reward for doing so is a rich seam of classic rock that delivers more with each and every listen.
The sun won’t be going down on The Answer any time soon. In fact, on the evidence of this strident return, they have plenty of time left to bask in its rays. Welcome home bais.
- ‘Sundowners‘ is released on Friday 17 March.
The Answer play the following dates in support of the release:
- Thursday 16 March – Blackpool, Waterloo Bar
- Friday 17 March – Birmingham O2 Institute.
- Sunday 19 March – Bristol Thekla
- Monday 20 March – London 100 Club
- Tuesday 21 March – Leeds Key Club
They then play various festivals over the summer, including Steelhouse on Sunday 30 July, Firestorm on Saturday 12 August and Stonedead on Saturday 26 August.
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