DORIS BRENDEL & LEE DUNHAM – Eclectica (2017)

British Doris Brendel is a veteran in the UK rock scene. She has been around for almost 25 years, starting out as a singer with The Violet Hour back in the early ’90s and catering for a solo career when that band rather abruptly folded. A few years back she teamed up with multi-instrumentalist Lee Dunham, and “Eclectica” is the third and most recent production of this creative partnership DORIS BRENDEL & LEE DUNHAM.

“Eclectica”, as it name implies, reflects Brendel’s multi-faceted personality with an eclectic collection of songs popularly described as ‘Progressive Pop’. This record spans pop, rock, prog and acoustic styles, confronting happy and sad topics with a humorous, angst-ridden style, blending them into a cocktail of sound and meaning.
Once again Brendel has collaborated with producer and multi-instrumentalist Lee Dunham, guitarist of rock / metal band Primary Slave, using an array of musicians to contribute to the progressive sound while still incorporating Brendel’s distinctive, husky vocals.

While this is a creative partnership, much focus will undeniably be set towards the vocals of Doris Brendel on this album. Her by now developed and smoky vocals does make her a vocalist that stand out due to that aspect alone, a female singer that just doesn’t sound like most others out there, at least in the mainstream rock scene. As usual she delivers, and existing fans of her career will get what they expect in that department.
Dunham is a skilled musician, which becomes obvious just by the sheer variety at hand on this album.

When an album features ballads (‘Balloon’), progressive (‘I Rather Wear Black’), hard rock (‘Retribution’, ‘Love App’), funk (‘Animal’) and easy pop (‘Crying Shame’) the musicians involved need to know a bit more than their ABC, to put it that way.
Amidst ballad-oriented material and compositions that include details of a more folk and acoistic nature, it is the songs honing in on more of a classic rock and hard rock attitude that strikes me as the most striking of the material at hand.
Dunham appears to be right at home in these territories, and Doris gets to use a bit more power to add emphasis and character in those songs.

While “Eclectica” is an undeniably varied affair, I rather suspect that existing fans will feel that this is another quality addition to Brendel’s discography.
For those not yet familiar with her music, I’d suggest that those with a general taste for classic rock and hard rock with the occasional detour into ballad-oriented landscapes should be an appropriate audience for this album. Especially if a darker toned, smoky voiced female vocalist is regarded as a positive element in that context.
A disc to escape a little from the usually heard in this blog, refreshing and cleverly recorded.
Strongly Recommended

01 – The One
02 – Love App (feat. Andy Powell)
03 – I Rather Wear Black
04 – Crying Shame
05 – Retribution
06 – Animal
07 – Losing It
08 – Death & Taxes
09 – Balloon
10 – One World

Doris Brendel – vocals
Lee Dunham – all instruments, vocals
Andy Powell (Wishbone Ash) – guest guitar

PRE ORDER:
www.amazon.de/Eclectica-Brendel-Doris-Dunham-Lee/dp/B06XWF1F77
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