For several years now, the British Rock guitarist and singer/songwriter Jack J Hutchinson has been identified by the UK Music press as one of the hottest and most inspired UK Rock artists of the last decade.
True to be told, Bluebird Reviews had spotted already ample signals of Hutchinson's artistic talent since a while, now, especially through some of the British artist's past records that our website was honoured to review, such as the 2017's Paint No Fiction and 2019's Who Feeds The Wolf?, where our website had clearly seen seeds of the musical growth of the guitarist and singer/songwriter, moving from a more Glam and Acid-Rock style to a more aggressive one, verging between 70's Psychedelia and stadium Hard-Rock style.
One thing has remained the same, though, throughout the musical growth of the British artist, which is Hutchinson's almost effortless skill to write great songs with remarkable lyrical depth and anthemic choruses, something that Jack J Hutchinson has brought as well to his brand new album, called Battles.
Hutchinson's new record sees the artist switching, from a sonic point of view, most definitely towards a Hard-Rock musical highway, a genre that reflects perhaps better and more accurately than others the lyrical theme of the album, where Hutchinson's songwriting sometimes display stories of everyday's life struggles, as in songs like Don't let The F*&ers Get You Down, Bullets and Running On Empty, among others, but also tales of love and hope, as shown in songs like Stay With Me and Love Is The Law, for example.
Although not entirely smooth on some of the songs' arrangements, Battles is a record that distils some flashes of true brilliancy. Hutchinson's songwriting, guitar playing and vocals on songs like Over Drive, Days Are Gone, Rip It Up and particularly Road To Hell are inspired, powerful and emotionally drenched, with Hutchinson delivering some of his finest body of work to date.
Battles, as per all of Hutchinson's records, it's a statement about an artist true to his soul and his genuine passion for making and playing music. The British singer/songwriter's new album offers a lot of energy, sweat and some truly great moments of music. While the album may be not be as cohesive as some of Hutchinson's past records, Battles is the latest body of work of an artist that carries bags of talent, wear his heart on his sleeves and grows in confidence and ability on each passing record, as the years go by. On the pathway to musical greatness, a record like Battles is most certainly a strong step ahead.
Battles is due to be released on 9th February 2024 and it is available to be purchased via Eyesore Merch
