AUTUMN’S CHILD – Starflower (Japanese Edition +1) (2022-2023)

Pride & Joy Music will release the new AUTUMN’S CHILD album ”Starflower” on January 20th, 2023. However, the band around singer Mikael Erlandsson, in which has become a winter / holidays tradition, are releasing the album today in Japan including an exclusive bonus track.
”Starflower” was produced by Erlandsson & Claes Andreasson, mixed and mastered by Mikael Andersson at Soundport Studios, Sweden; drums recorded by Mikael Andersson at Soundport Studios.
At first listen we can affirm ”Starflower” – the band’s 4th effort – is one of AUTUMN’S CHILD best records, and fans of Erlandsson’s previous act LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM will find some nice surprises.
It’s genuinely a case of ‘all killer no filler’ as from beginning to end the CD is crafted with such love and passion that it sits comfortably way above almost every other recent AOR / Melodic Rock album in comfortable ease.

Opener `Gamechanger´ rocks right out of the gate, contains a great chorus and a nice solo part, where guitar and keyboards go hand in hand. A great earworm of a track. ‘Aphrodite’s Eyes’ starts with acoustic flamenco guitar and has an oriental touch. Here, too, we are served a nice mixture of guitar and keyboard solos plus strong vocals.
`Welcome To The Show´ is an unusually hard rockin’ uptempo number for AUTUMN’S CHILD standards, with which drummer Robban Bäck even doing double bass parts. This is where LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM sound appears, and fans will love it.
The great diversity of the previous albums seems to be continued on the new album.

‘Opera’ begins quietly with grand piano sounds and almost effect-free vocals and increases in the further course to a great bombast ballad. Pontus Akesson’s guitar solo pays homage to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and quotes short passages from the same QUEEN magnum opus that has become famous for its unusual operatic section and thus fits the song title perfectly. Brilliant!

`Karenina´ should please all fans of typical ’80s bombast AORs, as it contains the classic trademarks from the genre such as staccato keyboards and opulent choruses.
‘1995’ is the album’s first single and is initially reminiscent of the prime time of the glam era of the early and mid 70s when bands like early THE SWEET dominated the charts. A nice contrast to the bombastic predecessor, which underlines the great variety of AUTUMN’S CHILD songwriting. The song itself could definitely polarize fans – we think it’s great.

`Dorian Gray´ begins with parping keyboards and grows with a great melody into an emotional epic, the likes of which we have only recently heard from the Brits CATS IN SPACE in this masterful quality. Pure goosebumps and for me maybe even THE highlight in Mikael Erlandsson’s extensive work to date.
Then ‘I Can’t Get Enough’ rocks straight ahead again, but is more compelling in the verses than in the chorus, which repeats the same line three times, making it a bit monotonous. However, the song contains a great break with a wah-wah guitar, which skillfully fits into the flow.

`The Final Call´ is very reminiscent of Rick Springfield’s Jessie’s Girl at first and therefore rocks more down-to-earth than ‘huge’. The beautiful melody of the refrain is underlined by great chord changes – cool tune.
‘Love From Tokyo’ is a midtempo number, not exactly a ballad and contains more ‘open’ instrumentation than any other song on the CD. It’s a particular song for sure, some may like it, others not. We enjoy the band’s effort to write something different.

‘It’s Not Too Late’ is another fluffy, feel-good AOR rocker with catchy melodies, like MAGNUM, for example, celebrate in their best AOR moments. Here Erlandsson – in the verses singing almost alone – what a fantastic singer he is. A worthy conclusion to an absolutely recommendable album.
But there’s more in this Japanese Edition, and the bonus is ‘When It’s Christmas’, a sweet Christmas present.

AUTUMN’S CHILD new album ”Starflower” has it all to please everyone: rocking tunes, AOR numbers, and rock & pop melodies. With such an exciting and extremely varied album, we HIGHLY Recommend it from start to finish.

01 – Gamechanger
02 – Aphrodite’s Eyes
03 – Welcome To The Show
04 – Opera
05 – Karenina
06 – 1995
07 – Dorian Gray
08 – I Can’t Get Enough
09 – The Final Call
10 – Love From Tokyo
11 – It’s Not Too Late
12 – When It’s Christmas – Japan Bonus Track

Mikael Erlandsson – Vocals, Keys
Claes Andreasson – Keyboards, Harmonies (Heartbreak Radio)
Pontus Akesson – Guitars (Moon Safari)
Robban Back – Drums (Mustasch, ex-Eclipse)
Magnus Rosen – Bass (Shadowside, Avalanch, ex-Hammerfall)

BUY
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/MICP-11750