Medicine Head - Heartwork

Bitrate:320K/s
Year:2024
Time:43:02 
Size:98,9 MB 
Label:Living Room Records 
Styles:Blues/Blues Rock/Rock/Americana 
Art:Front 

Tracks Listing:
 1. Makin' Up For Lost Love - 3:46
 2. Alibi - 2:50
 3. Everybody Has The Blues (Sometimes) - 4:41
 4. Get Your Hands In the Air - 4:13
 5. Livin' In A Bubble - 3:38
 6. Love Is Not a Dream - 5:42
 7. Gotta Hold On - 4:28
 8. It's All About The Love - 4:57
 9. Blue Eyes - 4:06
10. Ridin' In My Car - 4:38

Medicine Head began life in 1968 when the founding core duo of singer and guitarist John Fiddler and harmonica player Peter Hope-Evans began performing in the Midlands. They quickly came to the attention of John Peel and - at the insistence of John Lennon - the DJ ended up signing the band to his own Dandelion Records. Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend were also early cheerleaders. Medicine Headreleased three albums via Dandelion Records. The first album, 1970's 'New Bottles, Old Medicine' then a second album in 1971, 'Heavy On The Drum'; produced by the Yardbirds' Keith Relf. After their 1972 album, 'Dark Side of the Moon' [yes, before Pink Floyd), the band signed to Polydor. Medicine Headthen released 'One & One Is One', the single charted at No.3 in the charts and the album of the same name garnered them more fans. The following album 'Thru' A Five' gave them more hits with "Rising Sun" and 'Slip and Slide'. Soon after that the band became a duo again, releasing the fittingly titled album 'Two Man Band' in 1976. The following year, Peter Hope-Evans left for the final time, although John Fiddler (with Peter's blessing), has continued to work, and to release records as Medicine Head - 2011's 'Fiddlersophical' was the last before 'Warriors of Love' in 2020. Moving straight into 2024 and we see the new studio album 'Heartwork' a wonderful new album with John's classic Rock guitar playing and vocals. “Heartwork” offers 10 new songs  in the blues and blues rock genre from Medicine Head’s mainstay, singer and guitarist John Fiddler, the band’s sole original member. The album is the follow-up to the popular “Warriors Of Love” long player, the first Medicine Head album for a decade. The album is self produced, engineered and mixed, by a multi instrumentalist with a delightful lightness of touch which he uses to underpin the songs strengths rather than load them with Nashville clichés.He opens with ‘Makin Up For Lost Love’, which after an exclamatory opening slips into a percussive groove given its substance by his own heartfelt vocal. He’s admirably matched by Belinda Campbell’s gospel accompaniment, while Bucket Colwell’s tension building squalls and solo is the icing on a very rich cake. ‘Heartwork’ is actually a better album than ‘Warriors of Love’ because the songs are more consistent and hang together naturally to support the central theme, the exploration of love. And just when you think he’s exhausted his possibilities, he gives us the closing and very evocative ‘Ridin’ In My Car’ a Jackson Brown and David Lindley influenced track, but uniquely fashioned by Fiddler’s summery narrative which floats above an exquisite solo from Dzal Martin. The ‘Heartwork’ title fits the album perfectly, as he frequently sounds as if he’s pouring out his inner soul on a reflective album.It’s a laid back roots-rock album that frequently evokes Bob Dylan in term of arrangements, lyrics and vocal phrasing. Fiddler also wisely leans on Mark Knopfler’s ‘less is more’ approach on 10 tracks that allow lyrical meaning and musical feel to flourish, while the tones wash over you, and the oft repeated hooks linger in the memory.

Heartwork
Heartwork