JIMMY BARNES – Flesh And Blood (2021)
Legendary Cold Chisel frontman JIMMY BARNES is ready to release his new solo album “Flesh And Blood“, and it’s a fitting title as this is a collection of rockers performed by humans, with real musical instruments, and passion.
Just check the video/single title track below; a rollicking, emotive track co-written with guitarist Diesel and is buoyed by Barnesy’s huge vocals, particularly in the song’s anthemic chorus.
“Flesh and Blood” is a paean to his family. Written during 2020, a year in which the Aussie rock icon slept more nights in his own bed than any other in recent memory, the record is infused with gratitude for the ties that bind a family and reflections on Barnes’ difficult past and the demons that continue to haunt him.
The record is also a family affair in practice. Barnes duets with his wife of 40 years, Jane, on ‘Love Hurts’, while his son Jackie and youngest daughter Elly-May add vocals to ‘I Move Slow’. His eldest daughter, Mahalia, is responsible for all of the album’s backing vocals and Mahalia’s husband, Ben Rodgers, plays bass and engineered the album.
For the album’s closing number, a cover of the American country standard, ‘Tennessee Waltz’, Barnes duets with his middle daughter, Eliza Jane.
The latter is a hint to what Barnes actually spent most of 2020 doing. After Jane expressed interest in learning guitar, the Barnes family rallied round to form the Jane Barnes Band. Under this handle, they’d jump on social media every night and live-stream cover versions.
In all, the family learned upwards of 200 songs, the best of which are featured on the bonus DVD that comes with the deluxe edition of Flesh and Blood.
But despite its homespun origins, ‘Flesh and Blood’ – much of which was written with Barnes’ brother in law Mark Lizotte (aka Diesel) and is dedicated to his great friend, the late Michael Gudinski – contains some of the most affecting and instantly memorable songs of Barnes’ solo career.
Highly Recommended
01 – Flesh And Blood
02 – I’m Coming Home
03 – Gateway To Your Heart
04 – This Is The Truth
05 – Around In Circles
06 – ‘Til The Next Time
07 – I Move Slow (feat. Elly-May Barnes & Jackie Barnes)
08 – End Of The Road
09 – Love Hurts (feat. Jane Barnes)
10 – Tennessee Waltz (feat. Eliza Jane Barnes)
BUY
www.walmart.com/ip/Jimmy-Barnes-Flesh-Blood-CD/840749385
