Willow Child “Paradise & Nadir” 2018 Germany Psych,Hard,Blues Rock
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full bandcamphttps://willowchild.bandcamp.com/album/paradise-nadir
Willow Child - Starry Road (Official Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2J3QdHXaDg
https://www.facebook.com/WillowChildOfficial/
Willow Child from Greater Erlangen / Bavaria (pardon: Franken) surfaced on the retro-rock scene last year with their debut EP. Framed by singer / guitarist Eva, the quintet is one of the more interesting new additions to the sector, complementing the traditional rock trademarks of recent decades with modern highlights. Already in the opener “Little Owl” two things stand out, which are here in the direct comparison with some genre colleagues a clear presence attached. The crystal-clear, unaffected voice of the singer and the booming, the typical retro touch-generating organ. You can do it the way you want, it’s actually the kind of music that would have been used in the 1970s to pull off any sausage (vegan cashew cheese today). At first glance I feel pleasantly reminiscent of middle-aged Deep Purple and early Graveyard. The offensively proggige “Eirene” shows the compositional and artisanal abilities of the band and captivates by a cool blues list page. Hymnic and sweeping, partly polyphonic songs, sometimes solo licks, but never too intrusive. Above all, the chorus finally rocks to the clearest accent of the song, which starts early to get stuck in the auditory canals. “Land Of Sloe” shines through a startling bass, the bluesy parts are expanded and enriched with soulful bonds. In order to be able to keep the singer’s voice in the foreground, the music has been reduced a little, which on the other hand also leads to slight pressure losses, but still in a hardly criticized area.
What might just have been lacking in pressure, will immediately be made up for again with “Starry Road”! Here rules the astreins 70s-prog, which stands the Franken very well to face. The voice gains strength and liveliness and the whole package is suddenly much more transparent. The quality does not go down in “Beyond The Blue Fields” and “Red Wood”! Solid, sophisticated rock songs with great organ parts and varied, soulful and again rockier parts. Although there are no unique selling points in the music, that does not have to be the case. Ultimately, this is exactly what you expect when you buy a vintage rock album, and in good quality. “Mayflies” in turn is the absolute blast! An eternal Egret, progressive rock that would have been suspected right away in the seventh decade, most likely on the big European island. Memories of greats like King Crimson are awakening, slightly psychedelic Canterbury proportions flash, the atmosphere is dreary and certainly purplishly purple. The final “Unspoken” begins as a fine guitar ballad, with of course refined by fine vocals and is towards the end again to an official rocker……~
Willow Child establish a powerful symbiosis of vivid arrangements and intense lyrics. The quintet based around Nuremberg plays warm blues rock fueled by impelling hard rock riffs and psychedelic instrumental outbursts. Floating guitar licks, thrilling organ grooves and occult vibes are joined together by a rich songwriting. Willow Child’s debut album „Paradise & Nadir“ opens the door to a mystic cosmos!…..~
I know it’s not exactly unheard of, but I think it’s interesting that what first brought German classic-style, organ-inclusive heavy rockers Willow Child together wasn’t the impulse to immediately create something of their own, but to pay homage to their heroes of the late ’60s and early ’70s. They were a cover band. A lot of people slag off tribute acts — not me. If you can get together with your friends for a night, play songs you love in some bar that’s probably going to give you at least like $300 for the effort? I’ve been on the other end of that — playing original material to nobody for no money — and it’s not exactly always a blast. That romance? It fades. So yeah, cover bands. I get it.
Something tells me, however, that even playing original material, Willow Child aren’t going to have any trouble drawing an audience. The five-piece released their debut EP, Trip Down Memory Lane, last year and you’ll find it streaming at the bottom of this post. Later in 2018, they’ll follow up with their first long-player, Paradise and Nadir, which will be out thanks to the estimable tastes of StoneFree Records, who announced the alliance thusly:
StoneFree Records is more than proud to announce the signing of Willow Child.
After listening to their very promising „Trip Down Memory Lane EP“ in February 2017 we kept in touch and forged out plans concerning a future release.
Now the time has come! BIG TIME!
Willow Child recorded their debut album „Paradise & Nadir“ with Richard Behrens at Big Snuff Studio Berlin in January 2018. The result sounds stunning and will go places for sure. We’ll keep you posted about the release details pretty soon!
Willow Child establish a powerful symbiosis of vivid arrangements and intense lyrics. The quintet based around Nuremberg plays warm blues rock fueled by impelling hard rock riffs and psychedelic instrumental outbursts. Floating guitar licks, thrilling organ grooves and occult vibes are joined together by a rich songwriting.
The band was started 2014 under the name of “Trip Down Memory Lane” and firstly covered old classics from Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Doors and many more. But in late 2015 they began to write their own songs and somehow got stuck with it.
Willow Child’s debut album „Paradise & Nadir“ opens the door to a mystic cosmos….the obelisk….~
“ Paradise & Nadir ” is a title with the widest possible connotation. After the six-song EP “Trip Down Memory Lane” WILLOW CHILD from Bavaria, however, submit a very homogeneous first album on their own, with which they suddenly place themselves in the upper third of the (German) vintage rock scene.
The Nürnberger stand out not a few international competitors, both scribal and playful. Apart from the fact that the rhythm section in straightforward as tricky moments perfectly “delivers”, Flo Ryan (Limestone Whale, also on the shopping list, please) proves once again as imaginative as finger-ready lead-clapper, the events often together with organist Jonas Hartmann dominated. So what’s so wonderful that the epic ‘Beyond The Blue Fields’ is less reminiscent of 'Out In The Fields’ by Gary Moore than reminiscent of a midtempo number from Deep Purple’s 'Fireball’, especially because of his extravagant improvisational part?
The sibling company - singer Eva Kohl’s brother David swings an often very “blue” Rhythmusklampfe - sounds in all traditional love but not anachronistic, because song structures like those of the proggy 'Mayflies’ radiate something quite contemporary by their noticeable goal-directedness. WILLOW CHILD do not muddle along disoriented, but come to the point in a comprehensible way, albeit occasionally in a roundabout way.
This proves even before all the other songs of the album the rattling video track 'Starry Road’, which in its zockenden kind actually think of a journey into the distance, whereas the longest piece 'Little Owl’ can be understood as a contrast point to it.
The quintet, thanks to producer Richard Behrens (Heat, ex-Samsara Blues Experiment), wows in a wonderfully warm, well-balanced sound, which brings out the many small details that the members came up with, be it subtle reef variations or softly played single tones subtly subordinate the song motifs.
In short: “ Paradise & Nadir ” is material for the Freak Valley, Desert Fest and what they are called…..by…..Andreas Schiffmann….~
Can a record be like a good book? - Willow Child succeeds in her debut “Paradise & Nadir” a natural combination of exciting arrangements with metaphor-rich lyrics. The musical basis of the quintet around singer Eva Kohl is warm and psychedelic Blues Rock, which is colored by the sometimes melancholy dreamy, partly euphorically driven basic moods of the songs again and again. With their debut album “Paradise & Nadir”, Willow Child open the door to a mystical cosmos, in which the listener not only thematically, but also due to the rousing and catchy song structures can be found.
Lizardmen - The murky Lower Saxony produces its own musical drugs - a cocktail of sadness and pent-up anger, bedded in rock music, whose rhythms you can only escape if you cut off your ears. Their intros lurk like carnivores in the undergrowth, you never know when the attack will come.
Midnight Steamer - A 4-headed Rock 'n Roll combo from Nuremberg, strongly influenced by the golden era of classic rock - but more than a cold retro infusion at the same time. - Midnight steamer bring energy, playfulness and a warm, honest sound. ….~
Eva Kohl - vocals, guitar
Flo Ryan Kiss - guitar, backing vocals
Jonas Hartmann - organ
Javier Zulauf - bass
David Kohl - drums, backing vocals
Little Owl (6:25)
Eirene (3:58)
Land of Sloe (5:28)
Starry Road (4:32)
Beyond the Blue Fields (7:00)
Red Wood (4:22)
Mayflies (5:34)
Unspoken (3:56)
