Review: Snowy White – Unfinished Business
Snowy White – Unfinished Business
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital / Label: Independent
Release: 2024
Text: Tom Wouters
Old age has finally taken hold of Snowy White. The master guitarist, who is known for his clear, melodic, almost sweet guitar sound and ditto vocals, sounds bluesier than ever on his new album, Unfinished Business. And this on all fronts, his voice has acquired a somewhat ragged edge, his guitars sound bluesier than ever, his lyrics exude a melancholic atmosphere and the rhythm tracks (guitars, bass, drums and keyboards) can sometimes even be called rough, partly due to the powerful drumming of Thomas White.
Opening song Unfinished Business is solid, mid-tempo blues rock of the better kind with beautiful bluesy guitars from White. Evening Blues is a melancholic blues song by an old, lonely man with that unmistakable guitar sound of White and Alone With Me is a typical White ballad with that melodic guitar, which has been given a nice bluesy raw edge.
Overland And See is a surprisingly beautiful, compelling instrumental, in which pianist Max Middleton excels. Middleton was once a member of the legendary Jeff Beck Group, which released two famous albums (‘Jeff Beck Group’ and ‘Rough And Ready’) in the early 1970s and, in addition to Middleton, included drummer Cozy Powell and singer Bobby Tench. It is therefore no coincidence that Overland And See sounds quite jazzy at times.
Long Time is the new-old Snowy White in a beautiful melancholic slow blues. This is followed by the equally melancholic Endless Green, Deepest Blue, a song by a man who sees the world going down the drain, in which White’s guitar even sounds angry every now and then. White Cloud is a jazzy instrumental, in which White excels on acoustic and electric guitars and Middleton on piano. Sweet Little Secret is again mid-tempo, almost cheerful blues rock and White ends the album with the funky instrumental All The Way Home, in which we hear that White’s music now has a raw edge on all fronts that makes Snowy White’s blues stronger than ever.
‘Unfinished Business’ (mind the title!) is the album that Snowy White still had to make, an album that is the best and most credible of his entire long and rich career.
Tracks:
01. Unfinished Business
02. Evening Blues
03. Alone With Me
04. Overland And See
05. Long Time
06. Endless Green, Deepest Blue
07. White Cloud
08. Sweet Little Secret
09. All The Way Home
Website: http://snowywhite.com/