The album features duets with Russell Morris, Leo Sayer, Suze Demarchi, Joe Walsh, Ian Moss, Tim Rogers, Ella Hooper, Angry Anderson, Joe Camilleri, Ross Wilson, Angela Fabian and Swanee.
While collaborative albums are a great idea in theory, they quite often end up being colossal flops. Whether a result of artists bringing too much ego to the table, or just a genuine lack of cohesion between varying styles, they commonly end up feeling more like a copy-paste of different artists verses, as opposed to actual curated songs. (I’m looking at you Sound City.)
Kevin Borich’s ‘Duets’ is an exception to this. Boasting an illustrious list of collaborators, as well as Borich’s veteran guitarmanship and songwriting ability, Duets highlights how effective well-executed collabs can be.
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And there’s a clear reason for it– Borich doesn’t care if he’s the star of the show. Even though he’s had over 50 years experience being a bonafide star in his own right, Duets highlights his clear ability to step back and adapt to the individual style and nuance of the artists he’s working with.
‘Duets’ features Russell Morris, Leo Sayer, Suze DeMarchi (Baby Animals), Joe Walsh (Eagles), Ian Moss (Cold Chisel), Tim Rogers (You Am I), Ella Hooper (Killing Heidi), Angry Anderson (Rose Tattoo), Joe Camilleri (Black Sorrows), Ross Wilson (Daddy Cool/Mondo Rock), Angela Fabian and John Swan (Swanee/Party Boys). And it’s not just their amazing voices but Joe Walsh and Ian Moss played some guitar, Joe Camilleri played Sax and Ross Wilson on the Harp.
Straight From My Heart channels soulful blues-rock riffs to match Ian Moss’ motown inspired vocal cadence, Keep It To Myself adopts garage-rock distortion and blistering solos to make Tim Rogers’ punkish charm feel right at home, while I’m Together steps into realms of 1930’s swing, adding the depth of brass instrumentation to complement Ella Hooper’s nasally jazz tones.
And somehow, it’s executed in a way that maintains fluency as an album. Quite a hard feat given it features a dozen musicians, but yet one that Borich pulls off with finesse.
Label: Independent via MGM- Metropolitan Groove Merchants
Release date: 14/07/23
