Review: Erja Lyytinen – Smell The Roses
Erja Lyytinen – Smell The Roses
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital / Label: Tuohi Records
Release: 2025
Text: Andy Trachsel
The slide Queen Erja Lyytinen from Finland has a new album out called ‘Smell The Roses.’
I remember her gig in Bluescafé Apeldoorn in 2022. She impressed the public with her slide guitar and her bluessongs. I must honestly confess that I was surprised when hearing the title song of her new album. It looks like Erja Lyytinen went American rock all the way! What a broad spectrum of overdubbed rockguitars and Erja’s vocals commercially produced for the US market.
Smell The Roses is not a bad song only I didn’t expect it from her as a blues musician. In the second track Going To Hell she explains the blues is the tool of the devil. With this bluesrocker she is back on track. Some fierce unisono guitarlicks and singing ‘going to hell with my blues’. Our girl is back!
Abyss is a tasteful medium tempo rocker with low bass accents to be played loud on your speakers. Great fierce guitarsolo work of Erja by the way!
On the fourth track Dragonfly Erja’s slide is back. Thank God! It’s a radiofriendly rocksong which sways in and out your ears.
Wings To Fly will bring a deja vu in the memory of musicians of my generation. The chord progression made me think of ‘ it don’t come easy’ from Ringo Starr. Nice slide playing all the same and great production work. The Ring is a rock and roller with Erja’s trademark slide work. I like this track! I could play it over and over.
On Ball And Chain the heavy slideguitar dominates the song. Stoney Creek is a country rocker with appropriate slide playing. The album ends with the ballad Empty Hours. Subtile slide guitar with delay echo.
Did we smell the roses? Well we got a smell of future success of Erja Lyytinen entering the US market!
Tracks:
01. Smell the Roses
02. Going to Hell
03. Abyss
04. Dragonfly
05. Wings to Fly
06. The Ring
07. Ball and Chain
08. Stoney Creek
09. Empty Hours
Line-up:
Erja Lyytinen – Vocals, Guitars, Violin, Keyboards
Harri Taittonen – Keyboards, Hammond
Heikki Saarenkunnas – Bass
Jesse Lehto – Drums
Website: https://erjalyytinen.com/home