Heigh Chief. – Midnight Oil
Format: CD – Vinyl – Digital / Label: Cracker Factory Music
Release: 2020
Text: Fons Delemarre (translation: Jim Wake – http://www.jimwake.com)
What a wonderful band, Heigh Chief. I wrote reviews on previous albums at Blues Magazine and luckily, now there is a new album. Great rockmusic for those who love strong guitars, accompanied by a fat sounding Hammond, catchy vocals and songs.
As I wrote before, the premise is the that the music of Little Feat – and especially Lowell George – is in your personal playlist. In the unlikely event that you don’t know the music of Little Feat, now there is Heigh Chief.
After listening to the new album ‘Midnight Oil’ you can still try to find out the offspring of Heigh Chief’s music. ‘Midnight Oil’ blasts off with its titletrack (very nice mandolin!), followed by the equally pounding Kick It, with a lot of space for the slide.
Only in track three, the ballad Half a Heart, the music is downscaled a bit, lead vocals and tremolo guitar playing a prominent role. Heigh Chief’s music (funky rock with a New Orleans feel) requires a certain kind of compositions and Marcus Løvdal and associates seem provide them without any problem.
The sound of the album remains transparent throughout. One can easyly understand the lyrics, even when the band is playing full force. Spare a Dime is almost entirely acoustic and it is a beautiful musical island of peace and quietness on ‘Midnight Oil .
The rhytmic groove on Caroline is a super slow, dragging shuffle. Is something like that impossible? Listen for yourself. For those who like originals, there’s nine of them on ‘Midnight Oil’.
Remarkebly enough, the closing song is not a Little Featcover, but Crazy Love, a song that is originaly on Van Morrison’s a ‘Moondance’-album (1970).
Heigh Chief plays it the way Little Feat would have played it. Touring is not possible for the time being, but if they come around again: go there! For your information: Heigh Chief is a Norwegian band. From Oslo, to be exact. Nice to know, isn’it?
Tracks:
01. Midnight Oil (music/lyrics: Bjørn Blix) Bjørn: mandolin
02. Kick It (lyrics: Leif Johansen; music: Marcus Løvdal) Bjørn: slide guitar
03. Half a Heart (lyrics: Bjørn Blix/Leif Johansen; music/ Bjørn Blix) Marcus: slide guitar
04. Tailor Made (music/lyrics: Bjørn Blix)
05. Spare a Dime (lyrics: Leif Johansen; music/Marcus Løvdal) Bjørn: mandolin; Marcus: acoustic guitar
06. Caroline (lyrics: Marcus Løvdal/Leif Johansen; music/Marcus Løvdal) Bjørn slide guitar
07. Change of Heart (music/lyrics: Bjørn Blix) Marcus: slide guitar
08. You Got Something (lyrics: Bjørn Blix/Leif Johansen; music: Bjørn Blix) Bjørn: mandolin; Marcus slide guitar
09. Coming Home (lyrics: Leif Johansen/Marcus Løvdal; music: Marcus Løvdal)
10. Crazy Love (Van Morrrison)
Heigh Chief is:
Jonatan Eikum: drums, percussion
Lasse nordby: bass, backing vocals
Lars Christian Narum: hammond organ, piano, harmonica
Bjørn Blix: vocal, guitar, mandolin
Marcus L: vocal, guitar, backing vocals
Producer: Leif Johansen
Website: Heigh Chief.