She Burns Red - 'Out Of Darkness'

That delight was compounded by the Kickstarter campaign which accompanied this album. A £5,000 target was quickly surpassed with the final figure coming in at just under £12,000. This allowed the band to involve Andy Pilkington (Skindred, Rock Goddess) to produce their artwork. It also allowed them to invest in publicity that ultimately led to them being played on Planet Rock, an important shop window for emerging bands.

So, with all that in mind, what’s the album like? Well, I reckon it is pretty outstanding.

The nine tracks are all credited to She Burns Red, no individual egos on the credit list, just evidence of a tight group of musicians working together to make sure they have produced their very best.

“Touch” opens things up with some banging guitar and drums. Before bass man James McCulloch kicks in with the lyric, my head is bopping along. The song is fast and unrelenting and is a clear statement of intent about what is to follow. Rise and Fall comes next; Andy Moore sings this one. It’s part of this bands strength that they have depth in the vocal department which James demonstrates again in Killing Time. I really enjoyed this layered track.

Next up is Crosshairs, my favourite from the album, and the next single, which will be released in mid August. Crosshairs is not, however, a new song having been on an earlier EP. I liked it then, but I prefer it now. Andy and James have been joined on a full-time basis by Scott Hanlon on drums – whose presence is felt right across the album and Naz who, unlike the other three, didn’t go to Inveralmond High School in Livingston but rather grew up in Italy. His guitar work has really added to the richness of the band’s sound. This version of Crosshairs tracks progress and shows how much SBR have evolved in a very short time.

Naz’s guitar kicks off Heavy is the Head and remains a theme throughout another great song. The band are developing a bit of a ‘rockmantic’ image, Run very much plays to that as does Stronger.

Things crank up a bit more towards the end Crack the Sky is a good solid rock song. Like the rest of the album it has a rich construction and carries a number of layers that come together in a strong melody.

The title track Out of Darkness brings the album to a close. You may have heard this one before too, not because it's been on any other cut, but because it's been played on Planet Rock. It was great to hear it on perhaps the biggest of the UK’s rock stations – my perennial criticism of Planet Rock is that they should be doing so much more to support and encourage the vast well of young talent that exists in the UK. I am glad they picked this track to play from this band.

I’ve listened to this album a few times now and it's grown on me more with each listen. The production, courtesy of Matt Elliss (Terrorvision; Massive Wagons), has led to a greater depth to the songs than perhaps would otherwise have been there. This has been transferred to the SBR live performance too and has further enhanced their overall experience.

This is a great first album from a really promising band who have made it their business to build slowly but build well. This deserves to be listened to and Crosshairs certainly deserves a good bit of radio play.

Out of Darkness is out in September with the launch gig in Audio in Glasgow on the 9th of the month. Again, thanks to the Kickstarter money, the album is available in all the usual formats including vinyl. I will certainly be in the Audio for this one. I think once you give the album a listen, you’ll be there too.