Curse of Lono – 4am and counting

I saw Curse of Lono on tour supporting Samantha Fish and while they were very good I wasn’t quite won over, which may have been that they’re very different musically to what I’d expected from a support on that tour, but I always think it’s good to give a band a second chance, so I’ve been listening to their new album, “4am and counting” and I’m very glad I’ve given it a listen as it’s a damn good album.

It’s a stripped down live album recorded at Toe Rag Studios, with all but one of the songs coming from the band’s 2 studio albums (“As I fell” and “Severed”) – “Goin’ out west” being the only track not from one of those albums.

Check out “Blackout fever”..

Along with several other songs on the album “Tell me about your love” features BJ Cole on pedal steel which has a very distinctive sound and which really works well here..

The other guest on the album is Nick Reynolds from the Alabama 3 playing harmonica.

The band describe their music as “Cinematic Southern Gothic Alt Rock”. The alt-rock is fairly clear as it the gothic part, but “cinematic” seemed like an odd description at first until while listening to the album I realised many of the songs would be perfectly at home in the soundtrack to a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Having also listened to the two studio albums I think I actually prefer the wasy the songs have been played on this album – yes they sound good on the studio albums but this more basic live sound really suits the songs well.

Having not been quite won over on my first time seeing Curse of Lono, the album has definitely won me over and now I know the songs and waht to expect from them live I’ll definitely try and get to another of their shows as I’m certain I’ll enjoy it. This is an excellent album that’s definitely well worth checking out.

“4am and counting” will be released on 12th July 2019

Track listing:

1. Tell me about your love
2. I’d start a war for you
3. Welcome home
4. Blackout fever
5. Goin’ out west
6. The affair
7. Valentine
8. Way to Mars
9. London Rain
10. Pick up the pieces
11. Don’t look down