Rydholm Safsund - 'Kaleidoscope'

Lars Safsund’s voice is a golden gift from the gods. He must surely gargle with nectar and is probably the greatest singer that Toto never had. His honey-toned vocals have graced some of the finest albums in the genre by Work of Art and Lionville amongst others and he has previously hooked up with Anders Rydholm in Art of Illusion, a project name that drew words from their respective bands – Anders is best known as the band leader of Grand Illusion. Both gentleman hail from Sweden; surely the finest small country in the world for music, particularly melodic rock. It’s probably just as well that Anders Rydholm does not live in Scotland as his mates would probably give him a suitable Scottish banter nick-name like “Night Bus” or “Uber” on account of his surname. He’s definitely been an unsung hero but deserves to have his name in lights. 

The opening track ‘Now and Forever’ kicks in with a staccato guitar riff blended with shimmering keyboards and nimble bass, before the hyper-melodic hook and vocals kick in and then an absolutely top-notch brass / horns section fires up, followed by an incisive guitar solo that completes the full set of everything you could ever want in a West Coast AOR song.

The brass instruments set the scene for ‘Hey You’ which is where the Chicago comparison comes in and at times you even get an Earth, Wind & Fire vibe too. This is a very horny album, in fact, it’s got more horns than all the bulls in Pamplona, not least on ‘What’s Not to Love’, and that’s a very good question for this record.

There is some sultry, sexy shit going on in ‘Seven Signs of Love’ including some seductive bass playing, but don’t forget that if it doesn’t work out after the seven signs, there are still 50 ways to leave your lover! A lonesome sax introduces ‘Don’t Make Me Do It’ and the Californian sunshine- vibe continues on ‘4th of July’, presumably referencing Independence Day or ‘We Brought You Civilisation and a Language; You’re Welcome, Day’ as we know it in Great Britain, for the benefit of our ungrateful coffee-drinking American friends.   

  

The next four songs in order seem to be the most popular nominations for best song in the collection. It might be ‘The Bet’ for me. It is smooth and subtly funky with a “bet you’ll miss me when I’m gone” refrain punctuated by the trumpets. ‘Sara’s Dream’ is smoother still; possibly Lars’ top vocal on this record and the guitar work is superb too. Robert Sall and session-man Tim Pierce do the guitar honours throughout and Matt Bissonette handles the bass, so with Anders’ keyboards, it is a top-quality ensemble.

If you’ve got a yacht on your ‘Bucket List’ then the song of that name will be the perfect sound-track for sailing and it hits peak Christopher Cross-ness, before the more muscular ‘Plains of Marathon’, which is even tastier than a chocolate bar with a hazelnut in every bite, adds some Greek goodness. The album rounds off with the title track and then the final funky love-bomb of ‘Love Will Find a Way’.

This record will hopefully be the soundtrack of a sun, sport and cider Summer for me and should be for you too. Immersing yourself in this aural goodness is like lighting up the scented candles and taking a bath in milk & honey – you know, the kind of bath you might actually get out of to have a pee! With more brass than a politician’s neck, this album has serious sax appeal, brilliant vocals, keyboards and guitars and some very fine tunes. What’s not to love, indeed. There’s far more than coloured glass and mirrors happening with this ‘Kaleidoscope’.