I heard a song drifting from my brother's room and sheepishly asked what it was -I was worried that it might be a b-side of one of my favourite band and I'd be ridiculed for not picking it. It wasn't. The song was 'Return To You' off Alain Johannes solo album Spark.

There were reasons for the song's familiarity, even if you don't know his name you've certainly heard him play. To name a few of his collaborations: he worked on Chris Cornell's first solo album, The Mark Lannegan Band on Bubble Gum, was a regular on Josh Homme's QoTSA and Desert Sessions, and closer to home was a guest instrumentalist on Silverchair's Young Modern playing slide. Look him up, he's prolific not only in his collaborations but also the range of instruments he plays. Busy guy. I adore the Lannegan album Bubblegum that he worked on and there are certainly shades of it and of Chris Cornell's solo work on Spark.

Spark is a heartfelt album, there's a sense of urgency to the opening track 'Endless Eyes'. Looking on his website I discovered that it's a tribute to his late wife of 25 years Natasha Shneider. Indeed the whole of 'Spark' was made to commemorate Natasha who he had been collaborating with since their band Eleven. It's quite a wake. I had already listened to the album many times before discovering what motivated the album's creation, the melancholy of the songs and often discordant guitar took on another dimension. Heavy. Though at times somber, it's by no means depressing, it's bitter sweet.

The rhythmic chords, stick percussion and bare vocals at the beginning of 'Return To You' are utterly compelling, the falsetto backup kicking in gave me a chill. The chorus has an Oom-pah feel to it that makes me imagine him playing the whole thing by himself on the street with an impossible brass band strapped to his back, the backup singing being passers by possessed by the music compulsively singing along. Makes me think of Sargent Peppers. The Polyphonic Spree should do a cover, it deserves a massive choir.

'The Bleeding Whole', and 'Spiders' were other stand out tracks. 'The Bleeding Whole' grabbed me with it's double tracked vocals and hypnotic rhythm. 'Spiders' has a stylistically unexpected refrain, again artfully using falsetto, chased by what I believe is a constrained theremin. The refrain would work equally well in an electro pop track.. begs for a remix! I imagine I'd be really excited if I heard it for a minute and then want to hunt down whoever wrecked the song. It's perfect already.

Johannes proves that being a multi-instrumentalist ain't just for jazz, and is more than just being able to play bass and lead. It's an album of songs with slow builds, not couple bar jingles. I'll definitely be playing it again.

Review Score: 8/10