ALBUM REVIEW: Powell - Payne - Voilà

We all have gateway bands that open the doors on our journey of musical discovery. Though we may move on as our tastes change those feelings and emotions connected to those early days remain true and sometimes a huge galvanizing shot of musical nostalgia is very much the tonic needed. 

Welsh melodic rock band Powell-Payne clearly want to celebrate heavy rock where big songs and huge choruses were the norm. However, on their debut Voilà the Welsh quartet show they are intent on more than just reworking that classic rock sound and sentiment. The musical bar is set so very high from the get-go and Powell-Payne simply hit the floor running. 

A huge statement of intent is made from the opening three songs. This is pure, unadulterated feel-good rock music that picks you up and whisks you along for what is an exhilarating aural ride. Surely this is why we listen to music right? Better Days is a powerhouse of an opener, and such is the infectious energy and the instant clout of character you’ll be humming the chorus for days. The quality of the musicianship and the strength of the quartet is clear. No Escape has a feisty nostalgic eighties aura to it and Voices continues that trend mixing that bygone sleazy feel with a solid dose of the modern driving rock which rips along with joyous abandon. 

Possessing the right blend of confidence and honesty these songs hit hard. Snappy, punchy and instant. On record they come to life yet in the live setting they will no doubt be sure fired live anthems. However, Powell-Payne have more in their arsenal than dishing out catchy powerful melodic rock. For amongst the fist pumping, foot tapping grooves there is a beautiful emotional undercurrent running through the very core of Voilà. The Storm is a poignant, emotive mid paced ballad with vibrancy illuminated by yet more scintillating fretwork from Ayden Watkins. The solo effortlessly elevates the energy skywards and upholds the momentum that has not dipped one bit. 

There is more of the heartfelt, sugar-coated charm that gets under your skin in Distance Between Us. Yet again the simplicity and space of the composition illustrates the song writing prowess of Powell-Payne and the staggering chemistry between the four musicians. The stirring piano of Fly High is as powerful as it is beautiful. With a haunting delicacy again, the simplicity is the key. The vocals of Adam Payne reveal the true emotional power that can be harnessed when one possesses such an impressive gift as the frontman does. In fact, all across this remarkable debut Adam adeptly demonstrates the hard to master art of the frontman with his commanding presence and striking, far ranging voice. Such is his performance, it’s hard to imagine these tracks without such a compelling and likeable performance.

On Voilà, Powell-Payne serve up a sumptuous feast of life affirming, feel good rock music. Sure, there is one foot firmly rooted in the glorious heyday of AOR where slick production often aided and lifted a song further and maybe even made the song bigger than the music was able to. But no gimmicks or studio tricks are needed here on these eleven songs. They are strong enough to hold themselves on their own merit. The fact that the production is rich and rounded is a bonus but the craft of the song writing, the knack of adding in hooks and catchiness and the injection of emotion makes this so much more of an enjoyable and ultimately memorable album. There may be a hearty dose of nostalgia and the past on Voilà and the importance of the influences are clearly not lost on the band, however it’s the here, the now and the present which is Powell-Payne's time.

Voilà is released on 6th December via Frontiers Records

Review by Robbie Maguire