It gets increasingly difficult, within the contemporary music scene, to find music artists capable of combining in a very organic way, inspired songwriting and a natural attitude in creating strong melodies, when writing songs.
One of United States' best kept Blues and Southern Rock secrets, the Indiana born and bred guitarist and singer/songwriter Doug Henthorn, belongs deservedly to the aforementioned restrict circle of artists, as he has repeatedly demonstrated through his stunning debut solo record Cold Medicine and, subsequently and most recently, to Cold Medicine's 2019 follow-up album called The LLC.
It must have felt, therefore, very obvious for the American artist, to call his brand new album Three, given the time gap between Henthorn's new album and its predecessor, plus, the fact that this is indeed Doug Henthorn's third solo release.
At first glance, it appears straight away that the waiting for Henthorn's new album was worth all along, thanks to his instinctive ability to forge strong songs packed with lyrical depth and masterful arrangements.
Then, once you press Play one more time on your hi-fi to start listening Three once again, there is so much more beauty that emerges from Henthorn's new album. The artist's guitar playing, for a start, has gone up two notches in terms of ability and quality and then there is THAT voice, Henthorn's voice, that gets better and deeper on each passing record, a voice that exudes passion, power and extraordinary intensity, as shown in all the songs part of Three.
The 10 songs part of Three have a very distinctive sonic trademark, Henthorn's own one, suspended between Americana and contemporary Southern-Rock, with a touch of 70's sound at times, especially in a song like The Tourist. Curiously, there are three covers included in this truly splendid record (that number again, ha!), songs that Henthorn has left pretty much untouched, from an arrangement's viewpoint, but that were surely challenging, although very successfully, the artist's vocal chords on a very high level, especially, in our view, on The Beatles' Across The Universe and on the Eagles' classic Wasted Time,
Henthorn's new songs included on Three display an artist whose maturity and flawless writing style keep on growing every time, as clearly showcased particularly on songs like Fate Of None, Forewarned And Falling and So Long, Goodbye, among others.
The closing tune of Three, though, called Devil's Come Home, it is the real icing on the cake of a rather wonderful record; raw, raucous, slightly psychedelic and thunderous, although still performed with the usual elegance by the singer/songwriter and his studio musicians, Devil's Come Home shows another side of Henthorn's musicianship, pointing perhaps at what might, perhaps, be a further musical twist, in the ongoing growth of this extremely talented artist in his next musical projects.
A record to listen time and time again, a record to cherish, a record to love every minute; Doug Henthorn, through Three, has done it again.
Three is out now and it is available to be purchased at www.doughenthorn.com
