“Psyche-infused rock n roll with soothing anthems and dusted with a sprinkling of his signature tremolo style guitar work. Miles Kane is not afraid to showcase his love of different musical genres, blending Britpop, surf rock and 60’s pop in this album”
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Miles Kane returns with his new guitar driven album ‘Sunlight In The Shadows’. The album, released on 17th October with Easy Eye Sound, is produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.
This sixth studio album by the Wirral-born star is everything we’ve come to expect from Kane over the years. Psyche-infused rock n roll with soothing anthems and dusted with a sprinkling of his signature tremolo style guitar work.
Kane already has five UK top 20 albums in his arsenal, and another two UK number 1 albums with the Last Shadow Puppets alongside Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. This makes him no stranger to producing and recording albums, and upon his first day meeting Auerbach, the two created three songs. All three going on to feature on the final album.
The pair immediately bonded over power-chord pioneer Link Wray, American soul and 60’s British pop culture. The duo wrote all 11 original songs on the 12-song album and recordedwith a whole host of guitarists. They were joined by Easy Eye regular Tom Bukovac, guitarist Nick Bockrath of Cage TheElephant and Barrie Cadogan from British garage futurists Little Barrie.
Armed with two acoustic guitars and two notepads at Easy Eye Sound’s Nashville Studio kitchen, Kane recalled “When me and Alex were doing the first (Last Shadow) Puppets album, We’d go to each other’s mum’s house, sit in the bedroom and there’d be acoustics and notepads. The way it was set up in that kitchen, at Easy Eye, it took me back to that place, how it all started.”
Opening the album, we’re greeted with a rolling snare drum before Kane’s familiar whammy bar guitar whines into action. This first track ‘Love is Cruel’ was the first single released on the album and sets the tone with a punchy-yet-soothing start.
We’re next met with the toe-tapping anthem ‘Electric Flower’,which nestles itself somewhere between folk and glam rock.Bringing a sense of summertime, Kane pairs his crooning vocals with soft melodies. Quickly fading into the album’s title track ‘Sunlight In The Shadows’, you can feel the affection he has for fellow Mersey-hailers The Beatles in some of the backing vocals, whilst slightly tapping into surf rock. A genre he explored last year with ‘Miles Kane and the Evils’.
Kane continued to tap into the 60’s feel with ‘Coming Down the Road’. This time you can feel the intensity rise as Kane’spiercing vocals reach an all-time high point. This tune wouldn’t be out of place in an old-school movie score.
Now the album changes pace with ‘Always In Over My Head’. You can feel the echoey guitars dance over a soft piano melody. Fitting with the album cover, Kane riding a Lambretta looking into the wing mirror, there’s a lift off the pace from the early tracks.
Although softer than the start of the album, ‘Blue Skies’ feels a natural pickup in tone. Kane belts “Gone are the dark days, that once kept me down” and those familiar whining guitar sounds bring a feel of surf rock back to life. Despite releasing in October, the listener can’t help but be pulled back into the summertime. The soft, melancholic feel follows into ‘My Love’ which features 80s style Britpop riffs battling against the drums, interrupting it at points.
Following the upbeat vibes of the previous couple of songs, ‘Without You’ has the natural feel of a dancefloor filler. A track that Kane himself has labelled “The underdog of the album that has that 70’s dark vibe to it. It’s still got that rawness to it”.
Now getting back to Kane’s indie roots of the 2010’s, ‘Sing A Song To Love’ encourages the listener to dance along with the exciting drumbeat, upbeat vocals and wailing guitar riffs. This wouldn’t sound out of place on 2011’s ‘Colour Of The Trap’. The same can be said for the next single ‘I Pray’. More scratchy guitar riffs fight with his signature vocal style, meeting the crash of his final chorus.
Sandwiching itself between these two catchy indie-pop anthems is ‘Slow Death’, a cover of the 1972 hit by Flamin’ Groovies. An idea that was born out of the productiveness of Kane and Auerbach, leaving plenty of studio time once the album was wrapped. Miles Kane was unaware of the song at first, but he’s certainly added his charming swagger to this version.
The album slows for one final song, ‘Walk On The Ocean’. A ballad featuring heartfelt lyrics and mysterious instrumentals. A perfect closer to a brilliant album.
Perhaps aptly timed with the 15th anniversary of his debut album looming over us, this album really feels like another leap of progress for the star. Now six albums in, he’s sporting leopard print coats and jackets, decking out his guitar and equipment in the same style and pairing it all with his three-stripe boxing boots. Kane hasn’t lost any of his swagger.
He’s not afraid to showcase his love of different musical genres, blending Britpop, surf rock and 60’s pop in this album. It doesn’t feel like he’s ready to hang up the guitar strap just yet.
Review by Bradley Halcrow (@braddersh22)
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