Rudd wears his heart on his sleeve for this album. He sings about love, soul mates and freedom, moving away from his usual political and environmental themes. He still sings about Mother Earth in songs like Sky to Ground, which echoes his classic lyrical sound, mixed beautifully with the rough electric guitar style introduced in his previous album Dark Shades of Blue. The connection to his aboriginal roots still weaves through the music, but this album is about lost love, with songs like The Reason We Were Blessed, Love Comes and Goes, and Soften The Blow.
With two new band members in the musical mix, Bassist Tio Moloantoa and Drummer Andile Nqubezelo (both from reggae backgrounds), they have become collectively known as Xavier Rudd & Izintaba. Vocally Rudd works well on his own but on stage surrounded by musicians and even more instruments Rudd has created a whole new musical experience for himself and his fans and it’s wonderful.
His voice echoes like an old spirit in songs like Yandi and at times is reminiscent of his earlier Paul Brady-esque influence in Woman Dreaming, where he progresses his sound with the percussions of Izintaba mixed with his yidaki (didgeridoo) and the electric guitar. It’s certainly a big change in Rudd’s music as he steps away, although not entirely, from the yidaki and encompasses the culture of traditional African sounds and reggae vibes in songs like Set Me Free with an uplifting beat provided by Izintaba.
It would be nice to see him experiment further with the raw sound of the electric guitar he uses in songs like Bleed. Overall there’s a very different energy to this album than any other, but that’s how Rudd rolls, each album grows and moves with him on his journey. After getting a taste for his new sound at a recent show in Manchester, Xavier Rudd is a must see on his next European tour.
Here’s his latest video for Time To Smile (It’ll put you in a great mood!) :
