GLORYDAZEMUSIC.COM
Link (members only): http://www.glorydazemusic.com/articles.php?article_id=3798
Rating: 8,5 / 10
Background
Just how this Swedish outfit flew past everyone’s radars earlier this year remains a mystery to us all in AOR and West Coast land. They must’ve perfected stealth technology up there in the icy North, either that or somebody did a poor job marketing this album to all and sundry. We get to review Indigo’s debut belatedly months after the fact, and that’s a damn shame, because this is bloody good. If this had been offered to the media on time, Indigo may be further down the path of progress, more so than where they are now. The band originally started out in Jonkoping, and their early days was mainly as a duo (Olofsson and Brengesj”). With Christian concepts behind them, the duo gradually expanded to a full band set up. Influences include Toto, Michael Learns To Rock, Broke N Blue (without the female vocals), Fatal Attraction and John Waite. Certainly, singer Michael Olofsson is a near clone of Waite’s intrinsic vocal style. Occasionally they’ll stray into Swedish AOR/West Coast occupied by the likes of Work Of Art, but at this stage they don’t carry the racy dynamics of that great band, maybe one day soon?
The Songs
Everything I’ve described above can be evidenced in the first minutes of the opener ‘Back To You’, a track that has Broke N Blue characteristics. ‘Open Your Eyes’ and ‘New Song’ are both cool rockers with dissimilar attributes, though both contain subtle Christian lyrics. Probably the strongest song on offer here is ‘I’m Free’, capturing the essence of Swedish West Coast/AOR to perfection. Not far behind is the laid back groove of ‘Alive’, which could very well be a John Waite tune. ‘Feeling So Strong’ borrows heavily from Toto’s ‘Only You’ (refer ‘Kingdom Of Desire’), with ‘Save Me’ pulling off some funky moves in the vein of Danish heroes Michael Learns To Rock. ‘My Lifetime’ has a cool Toto like groove with some coarse guitarwork, while the aforementioned John Waite is a strong musical flavour on the poppy ‘Not Prepared’. The modern melodies of ‘By My Side’ reconfirm what decade these boys are living in.
In Summary
A nice little CD this one, with a sound that hard core fans of Swedish West Coast/AOR will appreciate. If you’re a fan of any of the artists mentioned in this review, then you really should give this a listen. It would be good to see a second album sometime in 2010 as these lads have cast their reputation in stone now. Recommended.
MELODIC.NET (Ola Gränshagen)
Link: http://www.melodic.net/reviewsOne.asp?revnr=7482
Rate: 3,5 / 5
Time for one more new promising Swedish band on the AOR scene. The band is called INDIGO and this 5-piece consists of guys between 22 and 23 of age. So this is a young act and it feels even more than just “promising”. The biography states that they sound like TOTO and at times like GIANT. I totally agree on the TOTO matter, whereas the GIANT moments aren’t that many in my opinion. However, that’s not making it worse at all. Remember the Swedish band FATAL ATTRACTION? They delivered 2 albums of high class Christian AOR (yeah, and also a 4 track release). Just like FATAL ATTRACTION, there’s a lovely melancholy in the music of INDIGO’s. Sometimes I think of ASIA, and in “Not Prepared” I even think of Canadian top act BOULEVARD! If you like the debut CD by Swedish act XINEMA you’ll like this too. Thanks to the lead vocal of Michael Olofsson there also a vibe of JOHN WAITE and BAD ENGLISH at times; like in “I’m free” for instance. I’d even go as far as saying “Open Your Eyes” reminds me a lot of JOURNEY meets TOTO. As for the TOTO elements; you can hear from the rhythm arrangements that TOTO are highly appreciated by these guys. Maybe it’s a bit TOO obvious, I’d say.
I guess you’re beginning to get it. This band is something to check up! In some ways they’re still a diamond in the rough, like the lead vocal for example. The full sharpness isn’t there yet, but there should be a lot more to come in time. The production by Frippe Eliasson (WALKINLIGHT) is warm and rich and bears a lot of what all the 80’s fans can wish for. This is a very fine debut.
THE OFFICIAL BLOG FOR WESTCOAST MUSIC IN FRANCE
Link: http://noted.blogs.com/westcoastmusic/2009/02/indigos-debut-album-reach-out.html
“Great melodies, excellent vocals and guitar solos with some TOTO inspiration, “Reach out” from Indigo is a must have for AOR/Melodick rock fans.”