MUSIC REVIEW: SPENCER MACKENZIE – COLD NOVEMBER

MUSIC REVIEW: SPENCER MACKENZIE – COLD NOVEMBER
Fontana North, April 2018
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
80%

Former teen prodigy Spencer MacKenzie is growing up. Now a young man aged 18 (at the time of recording this album) his relentless touring has helped his vocals and playing develop a maturity well beyond his years.

Back in 2016, I said of the then-sixteen-year-old’s debut album Infected With The Blues, “he has an obvious innate feel for the blues that some players spend a lifetime not connecting to,” and that connection is only stronger now. On the back of that album he was awarded New Artist Of The Year at the Maple Blues Awards, then Blues Artist Of The Year at the 2017 Niagara Music Awards in his native Canada.

With a more soulful feel than on that album, Cold November continues MacKenzie’s fascination with B B King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the personal development of his own individual style continues with style.

Fine Place To Start is just that, with the focus firmly on MacKenzie’s guitar and vocals, as it should be. Shut The Door (Baby Don’t Look Back) showcases great feel. It’s obvious the blues is in this boy, and it’s gotta come out.

The title track is so schmooooove it’s almost a crime. There’s not a lot of grit in MacKenzie’s music – in fact this album boasts a similar production sound to Robert Cray’s better albums – and with so much pure natural feel on show, that’s no bad thing. Voices could almost work as a duet between B B King and Stevie Wonder. It’s a great song and young MacKenzie sounds like he’s still testing to see where his vocals can go. I suspect it’s a fair bit further than we’ve heard so far.

A brace of covers close the album: Robert Cray’s You Move Me is… while Gary Clark Jr’s Next Door Neighbour Blues (the only track mixed by legend Eddie Kramer with Clifton Broadbridge – the rest of the record was produced, mixed & mastered by Dean Malton) finally allows MacKenzie the chance to get his hands dirty….

Category: CD Reviews