THE HEAVY NORTH ' Electric Soul Machine'

Words: ROBIN MUMFORD

‘Electric Soul Machine’ is a 10-track album that successfully expresses every element of quintessential British rock music culture through the lens of a modern perspective. Released by The Heavy North, a five-piece garage rock band turning heads in the Liverpudlian music scene, their latest invention experienced a delay in vinyl production, having been finished last August, but it now hits the mainstream media in superb fashion on World Record Day.

Unrelenting guitar riffs, undertones of blues, currents of Britpop, and nostalgic lyricism is brought to life through the band’s newest album. The opening song typifies that bluesy notion that other media outlets have picked up on, with ‘The Genie’ highlighting raw energy in every seam of the song, while other numbers such as ‘Satisfy You’ take a more authoritative approach to music, showing the band’s ability to unleash all-out aggression in a somehow controlled pattern.

The Heavy North have shown through their mesmerising live performances since their formation in 2019 that they are different from the rest. Their music doesn’t fit the confinements of the modern day, with the fusion of soundscapes they use being more reminiscent of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. There is still a massive market for the sounds that The Heavy North’s curate, and there’s an overwhelming creed from us that their bluesy atmospherics are bound to tickle the fancy of many British music lovers - especially those who wish to hark back to the days of old.

Certainly, a lot of the Liverpool-based band’s triumphs are brought about by the fact that nobody replicates the sounds of The Heavy North anymore. While indie rock bands of the modern day insist on reliving and enlightening the 90s, which comes with it the boring old label of ‘The next Oasis’, ‘Electric Soul Machine’ offers a broader look at the evolution of British rock music. 

Embroiled by Jack Birch and Jose Ibanez’s jangling guitars, Ste Penn’s hallucinating keys, Andrew Horrocks’ deep bass, and Mark Rice’s low drumming, Kenny Stuart’s vocals are unmatched in today’s music scene. Best shown in the seductive swirls of ‘No Good’, Kenny’s voice echoes across the track and almost becomes the beating heart of the single - something that bellows perpetual in all the songs, in truth.

There is an unrivalled energy that comes out of every track on ‘Electric Soul Machine’, and while we have picked out Kenny Stuart’s vocals as the nucleus of the masterpiece, without any of the other members, the album would not be anywhere near the level it has reached.

From the keys to the drums to the guitars and bass, everything the band delivers effortlessly rolls into one amazing soundscape. The Heavy North show that a frontman isn’t the only thing that portrays a band’s image, which is supported by the melting pot of sounds that are heard protruding from the latest album. The band is nothing without Kenny, of course, but equally, Kenny is nothing without the band.

‘Electric Soul Machine’ is a significant release for the future of blues music. In honesty, it was a genre we had perhaps forgotten about for a while here at Our Sound Music, but thanks to The Heavy North and their all-encompassing music, we have been revitalised towards our faith that blues is certainly not dead. 

50s, 60s, and 70s music has been given a lifeline through this creation, and while it has its modern twist, we love the fact you can immerse yourself into the past through this 10-track album.