Oli Brown’s career has been long and varied, and could probably fill a weighty tome with his musical exploits. Needless to say, he’s accumulated a wealth of experience and that’s precisely what he brings to his new project Oli Brown & The Dead Collective. The third in a series of EP’s, Epilogue evidences an artist who is happy in his own skin, and along with his band, has produced a soulful, bluesy record that marks the collective a force to be reckoned with.
Oli Brown & The Dead Collective follow 2023’s Prologue in some style, and attesting to that experience I alluded to earlier, begin Epilogue in understated style. They don’t feel the need to arrive with all guitars blazing, rather ‘Another Day Lost (Solitude Session)’ appears like a golden yellow sun over the horizon which is burning away a bruise coloured sky. Oli’s voice has turned into that of an old bluesman and his Marlboro-croak adds a touch of authority to proceedings. Yet, despite it’s parred back appearance, this opener is rich and textured and proves The Dead Collective to be master magicians; there’s a lot of goodness hidden in ‘Another Day Lost’s deceptively simple sound, and it will reward repeat plays as subtle nuances buried deep in the mix reveal themselves on successive spins.
While his guitar playing is certainly not generic, Oli Brown has definitely developed a “signature style”, and the warm tone that wends its way through ‘I Won’t leave’ could only be his. It sounds as if he’s soaked his strings in honey, his solos are velvety and chocolatey and flow like a river of silk. However, the EP’s pièce de résistance is the epic ‘Home Sweet Home’, a song which proves this combo very much a band as they lock in tightly to deliver an emotional rending which grows from a tiny acorn into a mighty oak. Oli adopts the idea that “less is more”, he doesn’t feel the need to scrawl his sound everywhere, meaning that when it does appear, it’s all the more precious.
An electrified version of ‘Another Lost Day’ provides the perfect counterpoint to the sparse opener, and it is here where the rhythm section (Sam Wood and Wayne Proctor) come into their own. Hard, yet melodic, they swing with that tight-but-loose vibe as perfected by Bill Ward and amply prove that The Dead Collective are alive and kicking.
- Epilogue is released on 29th March 2024.
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Track List:
- Another Day Lost (Solitude Sessions)
- I Won’t Leave
- Home Sweet Home
- Another Day Lost
