THE PHOENIX SUITE

Having left prog rock band Mostly Autumn in January 2010 after thirteen great years, Heather Findlay decided it was time to go solo. With a promised debut album that is expected to be full of great songs, powerful lyrics and soaring vocals, this EP goes a long way to say that all those boxes will definitely be ticked when it is released. All five songs here are written by Heather and owe a lot to the sound she honed with Mostly Autumn, although she has expanded this sound to stamp her own mark on it. With definite influences of Fleetwood Mac mixed with a now prog rock meets psychedelic folk sound, there is also a nod toward rock and metal on the excellent “Cellophane” which had me thinking Foo Fighters on the heavy rock parts of the song. “Red Dust” is powerhouse prog rock with crashing drums from Alex Cromarty giving the strong launch pad for Heather’s soaring voice to take off. “Phoenix” is wonderfully haunting in a mildly psychedelic kind of way, with Heather hitting even greater heights with her pure, crystalline voice. With a great band behind her Heather carries on the tremendous quality with the super “Seven” that cajoles then argues its point with a sharpness of a blade. She then grabs your heart in an almost vice-like grip on the formidably domineering and potently robust “Mona Lisa” that brings this super EP to a resounding conclusion. If the full debut album (when completed) is as good as this, then Heather will have released a masterpiece that matches her tremendous artwork on this CD cover.