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.
