INCREDIBLY STRONG DEBUT FROM WOKINGHAM OUTFIT. AN ALBUM WHICH OOZES CLASS AND SEDUCTIVELY DRAGS YOU INSIDE ITS WORLD
Ruby Dawn are a band based in Wokingham, Berkshire in the UK. I was notified about their debut album, Beyond Tomorrow, by my good friend Thomas Szirmay at Prog Rogue https://www.facebook.com/progrogue whose taste is always impeccable – he described the band as “scary good stuff, with amaaaaazing vocals”. When Thomas calls, Lazland must respond, and this album really is something very special indeed. You can listen to and purchase this at their Bandcamp page at https://rubydawnband.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-tomorrow
The band are Carola Baer on keyboards & vocals, Dave Salsbury on guitars, Ian Turner on bass and responsible for the production side of matters, with Adam Perry on drums. All are very strong. This is very much a collective, but I am at the top of this review going to single out Baer, because Thomas was right. These vocals are staggeringly good, smoky, and downright seductive in their intent and execution. From the very first bars to the end, you are in for a treat. The band on their website at https://www.rubydawn.co.uk/ describe themselves as evoking the grooves of Pink Floyd and the edginess of Porcupine Tree and groove of Massive Attack, but go on to say, absolutely rightly, that they have a truly unique progressive style of their own, and I might add that vocally, what struck me almost immediately is that Baer sounds like a blues incarnation of the Fleetwood Mac had Stevie Nicks come from England as opposed to California.
So, to the album. There are twelve tracks with one ten-minute-plus epic, and only two sub-five minutes, so you certainly get your money’s worth. The opener is Save the Day, with a wonderful pastoral feel to the electric piano and guitar before Baer enters with her voice and immediately pulls you in, especially when the track expands on the “save the day” passage two minutes in. Salsbury gets an early opportunity to impress with his guitar riff chops and I like the rhythm section underneath this. I have embedded the track below – a seriously good introduction to them, especially lyrically raging against the machine, as it were, which I take as a cry for freedom and decency.
It is followed by Star on You, which is a real highlight. The chugging bass and guitar flitting between your ear’s merits mention of very nice production skills and, of course, a nod to the feel of Floyd of yore. The drums on this are very impressive and this is a blues-infused track combining classic 70’s rock with an almost post-rock attitude. The enjoinder by Baer to “look up” is a command impossible to ignore and the words taking us into the wonderful closing passage guitar solo are dripping with feeling.
Breakdown is up next. The guitar opening is minimalist against some synth effects, whilst Baer is mournful when she sings. The track is a definite slow burner. The collective does not play as a whole until two minutes in, but slowly and surely the intensity picks up without you never really noticing it – the track simply fills your head more and more as it goes on. The words and music behind this intensely sad number talk of a life-changing event and the guitar solo especially is to mourn the loss of a loved one. This leads to a mighty wall of sound before we are cleverly taken back down with the opening feel of the song.
Mirror of your Life is a similar length track. The keyboards which rise above the more forceful guitar we start with are as light as a feather, but no less effective for that. When the vocals start, you are left breathless by the feeling within them, of the subject not wishing to sit there quietly turning her hands inside out, with the despair of thinking what can she do? To me, this is deeply personal, and it is very good. To accompany this, the band once again build up the noise gradually until the expanse arrives and Baer lets rip with The Mirror of your Life haunting you. A huge guitar solo is provided, with the bass and drums thumping matters along underneath. When the track calms down, there is a distinct menace in the voice and air when Baer wonders why it is so confusing to the subject of her rage why she “loves them” and the closing passage really does remind me of that intensity from Rhiannon all those years ago. The track is embedded below. Enjoy.
Dances on Mars is up next. The keyboards and general vibe have more of a psychedelic feel to what went before. The vocals are themselves dreamy, with Baer not wanting to go to no dances on Mars. As the track moves along, there is a stoner vibe to much of it, so a contrast to the opening passage, with the guitar solo here harsher than those in other tracks. Just over a minute in from the close, Baer’s keyboards take you back some fifty years, or so and the reprise of the people around you care lyrical theme is upbeat, so within this 5:43 track, there is an awful lot packed in.
Stonewall follows with some nice keyboards and a pounding bassline reminiscent of some of Gabriel’s later work. This gives way to another impressive blues number, with some wonderful percussion joining the still throbbing bass underneath a thoughtful guitar. The subject of the ire sung by Baer has a stonewall between him and her, with her imploring him to take it down in a pulse of words and guitar riffs. The guitar screams and wails and the band provide a wall of sound. The final minute is deep and heavy.
Man, Where’s Your Heart is a great title for a piece of music. I believe this is a single release, and it is the very definition of a slow burner. The track takes the best of the band but does take it in a more distinctly commercial direction and is the sort of track which deserves national radio airplay certainly late at night, when one returns home perhaps after having a few beers too many and let down yet again by someone you were attracted to and you place some Janis or Joni on the turntable. Indeed, the vinyl crackle at the end tells you all you need to know about the era Ruby Dawn want to transport you to in this fine track.
Save Me brings you back to the modern era, with some bleak keyboards opening proceedings and a trancey relentless groove underpinning these and Baer’s almost hushed words. There is an explosion of noise when the chorus arrives with the pleading for forgiveness and from thereon in, the track races along at a fair old pace. It is an interesting track, one which feels at home in both a rock venue setting, but also in a dancehall.
Heavens Angels is another piece which opens smoky quiet and builds as it progresses, but when it fills out the room as the mid-section arrives, this is another piece of fine commercially tinged rock music, with the guitar solo of Salsbury especially made for air playing, and I for one hope that this fine piece does, indeed, reach a wider audience. The pleas in the vocals are matched by the thumping notes on drum & bass, with rhythm guitar and keyboards rather like a pair of arms seeking us out in the dark, pleading for understanding and love.
Into the Sun is the epic track of the album. The opening is full of eastern promise. Close your eyes and visualise the train coaches heading majestically into the desert sun. Some of the guitar work is simply stunning, and the crying words of Baer set the scene very well. As the main segment of the piece arrives, the voice is rasping and urgent, and if this is not an attempt by the band to recreate at least the spirit of Kashmir in a modern setting, then I am destined to be reborn as an ass, probably figuratively and literally. I love the extended guitar solo, from which you do hear a strong Gilmour-influenced vibe. Once this is complete, there is the most beautiful passage featuring voices, a lively guitar, and a deep groove created by Turner & Perry and the underlying blues sensibilities of Ruby Dawn strongly reasserts itself before a closing passage which I feel is very anthemic, combining the Kashmir with the blues and the classic rock in a wonderful mix. Even if you don’t have ten minutes to spare reading this, make time – it is embedded below and it is bloody brilliant.
Other Side is the penultimate track, and it reminds me so much of U2 in its execution in the opening passage (I say that as a compliment, by the way) with its looping guitar and bare, but effective, rhythm underlaying, with Baer herself seeking her truth in that seductive voice. “When we sometimes feel the love calling” provides us with a glorious pop-rock song, a tune which simply makes you feel very happy nodding and tapping along to the noise produced. The track closes with a reprise of the opening segment.
We close with Dust & Fire. It is a very strong way to finish, with another crying guitar solo and a song which is passionate and executed perfectly, growing into a moving finale, Baer crying out fit to break your heart.
I review many fine albums on this website, and I will close my review of Beyond Tomorrow by simply stating that it is a clear contender for my “debut album of 2023” end of year vote. It is one of those albums which impresses you right from the first listen, and then simply gets better and better. A joy to listen to. If you are a fan of female-fronted classy progressive music infused with both commerciality and passionate blues, then this is the album for you.
Very highly recommended.