So it really
has only been four years since Johnny Foreigner started up. It seems like a lot
longer because they’ve had three albums (including this one), several handfuls
of EP’s and bajillions (no exaggeration) of singles. They have written all of
the music, toured all of the venues and it isn’t a stretch to say they’ve
garnered a legion of loyal fans who have been chomping at the bit for this
latest release. The record has been two years in the writing with the recording
and mixing staggered over five months. It features a truly stonking seventeen
tracks which is even more impressive when you consider their track record for
near-constant releases. It’s also their first for Alcopop! Records and
according to guitarist and lead singer Alexei Berrow it “sounds perfect. It
sounds like a huge expansive sprawling ambitious and personal version of us. It
sounds like we do in our heads.”
Obviously, I
can’t vouch for what Johnny Foreigner sound like in their own heads, but he is
spot on with regards to the rest of the album. They have taken a lot of risks
and really branched out musically but they’ve done it in such a way that you
can tell it’s still them. It’s just a bigger, better them. The passion the band
has for this release translates into the execution of the songs and this is
something that is evident in Alexei’s vocals which I have always found to be a
bit Marmite-y. I mean, the trademark Johnny Foreigner sound is still there,
it’s just more grown up. It makes sense since their fans have grown up too. I’m
not trying to say that Alexei sings like Phil Collins and the band have gone
all boring on us. There is still a great deal of frenetic energy to be found, especially
in tracks like opener if I’m the most
famous boy you’ve fucked, then honey, yr in trouble and electricity vs the dead. These tracks
showcase the boatloads of hooks Johnny Foreigner still have at their disposal
and the contrast between Alexei’s clipped delivery and Kelly Smith’s vastly
underrated vocals. However, it’s in some of the more subdued tracks that they
really get a chance to show that they are not a one trick pony. There are some
lovely drum machine sounds on the more laid back tracks like 200X which also features the lyrics ‘I’m
not giving in / I’m not giving up on you / We just got older’ which
seems to be the over-arching theme.
With regards
to taking risks, you have a track like supermoving
which is a bass/electro driven piece that sounds a little out of place on the
album until it hits you that they’ve been doing this throughout the entire
record. Trying new things. Like a slightly older dog learning new tricks then
using them to rock your face off. Then you’ve got something which is just
vintage Johnny Foreigner like what
drummers get which would be my personal album highlight if it weren’t for
the absolutely epic sounding new street,
you can take it which is just GLORIOUS.
There is just this massive build up and wall of guitars which is just
totally not Johnny Foreigner but at the same time they make it sound like something
they do all the time.
This review
is super late. However, I listened to this album a lot at a very crazy and
awesome point in my life. The first album came out at another crazy time. The
second one as well. So, the fact that their new album was released at a
significant life point just highlights, for me, that Johnny Foreigner are one
of those life-soundtracking bands and the new, ambitious sound is reflective of
stuff going on with people when they get older and a little wiser and a little
nostalgic but also kind of hopeful about this new future. This is maybe getting
a little esoteric? Basically, this is a cracking album. A big important step
for the band and, in a way, their fans.
Johnny Foreigner vs Everything is out now via Alcopop! Records
LD
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