Everyday Heroes - ‘A Tale of Sin & Sorrow’

After two EPs and a lot of miles on the road, Everyday Heroes are finally ready to self-release their debut album. They’ve taken their time, and as you would expect if you’ve seen them live, it’s full of top quality blue-collar and bluesy rock tunes. The opening track references Texas although a more obvious geographic point of reference style-wise is Kentucky’s Black Stone Cherry. However, The Heroes prove conclusively that there’s no reason why you can’t produce credible and enjoyable Southern-style rock if you come from the valleys of South Wales rather than the Deep South of America.

You might already be familiar with ‘Soul to Save’ which has been on You Tube for a while and the energetic and entertaining new single ‘Standing Stones’. There are plenty other standouts on here too, including ‘The Witch’s King’ which has a sneaky ear-worm of a riff and the brooding ‘Without a Throne’. I also particularly enjoyed the mini-epic ‘The Crow’ which starts with a typical Southern acoustic intro and builds up to a toasty guitar solo and a poignant outro. ‘Find My Way’ is another interesting one; it has hints of ‘Spirit in the Sky’ but also features a tidy chorus and there’s some great Gorham-esque guitar work going on too.

When I interviewed the band at Winterstorm last year, I could tell they were slightly frustrated when I referenced a couple of early songs about ‘dodgy’ women. Luke was quick to point out that those songs were written by him as a younger man and that their writing had matured and developed since then. Well they’ve certainly backed that statement up with this release as it’s very thoughtfully constructed and there’s plenty going on musically and lyrically – they even use the word capricious on the funky and soulful ‘All Outta Faith’.

But I didn’t fully grasp the enormity of what was going on until I read the extensive and eloquent press release that accompanied our sneak preview. On first listen, I had enjoyed the whole album and appreciated each song on its own merits, but it transpires that this is actually a full-blown concept album! There is a very definite storyline going on and it turns out that the title of the opening track actually references a Western character by the name of Texas Red whose story unfolds over the album. And that’s not all. Guitarist / lyricist Dan Richards has recently completed the classic Camino Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and that inspired him to infuse the tale with a deep narrative about sin, atonement and a journey to redemption. That explains the Spanish trumpet flourishes on the penultimate track ‘West of Forever’ which also features a lovely little secondary riff within a finely layered song. There are dark and complex themes woven seamlessly into the music as our protagonist struggles along his metaphorical path and the tale unfolds. No plot spoilers though so I won’t share how it all turns out for Tex in the end.

You can enjoy this album on a number of levels. If you play it on shuffle then it can simply be an excellent collection of original and accessible modern rock tunes. But if you want to dig deeper you can enjoy the complex narrative and then peel back another layer if you want to immerse yourself in the underlying spiritual aspects. Whichever way you listen to it you won’t be disappointed and you’ve got to applaud the ambition behind it as it’s a brave step for a debut album. It comes nicely packaged at a bargain price - and with a lyric sheet too which is handy if you want to follow the story.

This intriguing release puts EDH at the forefront of what feels like a golden generation of Welsh music with Those Damn Crows leading the way, Chez Kane getting a Frontiers deal and others like Buffalo Summer, Florence Black and Scarlet Rebels coming up behind. NWOWR anyone?