GeminiiDragon - '3'

Working once more with producer/guitarist Christian Simeon she has produced her new album “3.” I’m happy to report that it’s another resounding success that shows further growth in the sound and content of her music.

All the tracks on the album are cowrites between Jessica Harper (GeminiiiDragon) and Christian Simeon. The predominant influences are still the R&B, blues, and rock sounds of the seventies. I’ve played the album through a few times now and I feel like this time out there’s a greater leaning towards their rock influences. As a test I threw the tracks into a mix of Seventies rock stars, including Rolling Stones, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, a selection from Nuggets sets and some more modern contemporise like When Rivers Meet, Samantha Fish, Elles Bailey, Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow and others and every track stands up beside these other artists.

The album opens strongly with two great blues rockers “I Wanna Know” and “Caught Up in Your Love.” The sound to me feels rawer than on Equinox. The guitars buzz and cut through the track and the songs drive along on solid riffs. This is blues from the wrong side of the tracks, dirty and grungy and filled out with the voice of GeminiiDragon, always riding on top of the music.

There’s more blues with “A Fool for You” and the feel of Led Zep is strong on this track.

“Great Day,” for me, is the first standout track of the album. That’s not to diminish the opening trio but this was when my head started really bopping along and my feet were tapping away. The guitars really rock here and there’s some great playing from Christian Simeon here. GeminiiDragon isn’t going to be outshone though, after all this is her record! The song is about being positive when times are hard. And the lyrics tell us to “reach as high as a cloud.”

I almost skipped “Clowns,” (I suffer from Coulrophobia, look it up ). Thankfully I didn’t. Led Zep’s influences is strong again here, but there’s also some southern swagger as well.

“Desert Heart” has that sound of Seventies blues rock. There’s a touch of Pre Nicks/Buckingham Fleetwood Mac here. Maybe they summoned the spirit of Christine McVie into the studio because it has that elegance and beauty with an underlying grit and toughness that always ran through her best works with Mac and Chicken Shack.

“Cherokee” is pretty much a straight-ahead rocker. A wind down the windows or roll back the roof driving song. You can feel the wind in your hair as the song pounds along with some excellent drum and bass work. Dig into the lyrics and you find it’s the story of a Native American standing up for his rights today.

“Last train to Thibodaux” is my favourite track on the album right now. It’s a heady stew of a song that delivers rock, soul, and R&B in the space of four and half minutes. There’s more sublime guitar work on show here and the vocal delivery is spot on.

There’s a reworked version of “The Ballad of Willie Mae and George,” from equinox to close the album, which has been available for some time online. This is as blues as it gets. This man done gone and done his gal wrong! It’s working that blues story telling style and GeminiiDragon delivers the tale with all the angst, and passion it needs.

So, my fears have been thoroughly quashed, stomped and driven off by another excellent release from GeminiiDragon. This is a thoroughly modern blues album that pays homage to it’s influences and uses them to create something that’s totally unique. GeminiiDragon’s vocals are at the forefront as they should be on her own record but that doesn’t diminish the contribution of the musician backing her up superbly.

The amount of live work the band have done since “Equinox” has helped them tighten up and define their sound. “Equinox” was one of my top three albums of 2023. I have a feeling that “3” will repeat the trick and end up in my top albums of 2024.

“3” will be available from Nepotism Recordings/Lightning In A Bottle Records.