RAINLIGHT – Insomnia (2023)

Québec based RAINLIGHT surprised us some time ago with their stupendous debut album ‘Lost In Time’ – the title referring to classic Melodic Rock of old, read ‘the ’80s’ – as their sound is firmly planted in that glorious decade for the genre.
We had to wait five years for a new RAINLIGHT album, and the time arrived in the form of “Insomnia“, a 10-tracker where the ’80s sound has been perfected: classic Canadian Melodic Rock we all love.
RAINLIGHT manages everything of their art, from songwriting to production, and release the album by themselves as well. All members are seasoned musicians and know their craft, and despite being self produced, “Insomnia” sound quality is great, very well mixed & mastered too.
There’s varied songwriting, ‘Moonlight’ is a pumping melodic rocker with elegant guitars, there’s an AORish feel to ‘Fight’, then ‘Shine’ adds some muscle guitar, while midtempo ‘Come Fly with Me’ is darker and plenty of atmosphere. Despite its title ‘Without You’ isn’t a ballad but a midpaced melodic rocker with a chorus that bring to mind DARE.

The chorus on the dynamic ‘In a Stranger’s Mind’ takes some time to appear, but when it does, adds a loth depth to the song. Title track ‘Insomnia’ adds a touch of progressive to the main melody, while ‘Let the Rain’ works as some kind of ballad, the type TEN used to create in their early era.
Closer ‘Alive’ reflects its title with driving guitars, a pretty punchy rhythm section and swirling guitar work.

RAINLIGHT is a very interesting band in the current Melodic Rock scene as they bring back the ’80s sounds from the genre, but while other groups doing this revival opt for catchy, instant melodies easy to the ears, “Insomnia” delivers a more elaborated sound, looking for atmospheres.
Part of this come from the guitar work which alternate from distorted to clean, and the rhythm section provide the drive for the neat vocals to articulate.
Highly Recommended

01 – Moonlight
02 – Fight
03 – Shine
04 – Come Fly with Me
05 – Without You
06 – In a Stranger’s Mind
07 – Insomnia
08 – River of Silence
09 – Let the Rain
10 – Alive

Carbo – lead and backing vocals
Steeve Poirier – guitars, bass, keyboards
Jean-Patrice Leroux – drums
Martin Tremblay – bass

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www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C436VH2P