Rik Loveridge returns with a new EP, Sans:Dopamine (Without Dopamine), four new tracks on his fourth recorded release since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and, in Rik’s own words, this is a more direct, simplified, and concise song form.
In 2024, I reviewed Generations, and you can revisit my thought on that fine effort by clicking on the button at the foot of this review.
Rik has gathered some musical guests to assist him, and a fine lineup we have, too. The legends that are David Jackson (sax on Talk Talk Talk), and Nick Fletcher (guitar on Still as the Hills), together with Stephen Byrne (guitar on Talk Talk Talk), Mark Goudswaard (also guitar on Still as the Hills), and Anna Loveridge providing the backing vocal on Still as the Hills.
You can visit Rik on his Bandcamp page and visit his website at https://66e87fc8db622.site123.me/
Right! Before discussing, let’s look at the video teaser, and do please note the closing title that donations to Parkinsons UK are appreciated.
We open with Forked Tongue, a short piece with some nice shades of Americana interspersed with electronic dystopia and some gentler guitar and synth soundscapes in the closing segment, lyrically definite anger against the lies and false news which constantly populates our modern consciousness.
Talk Talk Talk follows, and I like Byrne’s contribution on guitar in a track on which there is so much happening, the organ busy in the background, complex percussion, the lovely synth layers, Loveridge raging that all he does is “talk, talk, talk”. Jackson provides his trademark sound. I will be playing this delight on my radio show this coming Saturday.
Hello Disease has the most beautiful bass melody underpinning it, with Loveridge playing an understated, but powerful rhythm guitar, the words talking about the condition Rik must live with daily. I take my hat off to him for “welcoming” the disease as he does in this track as a part of him, asking it how it is today, sharing its impact with us, evident in the sheer emotional impact of his vocals and some of the angrier bursts of energy.
The closing tack is Still as the Hills, and I quote from the CD sleeve some words:
“I just, just wanna, wanna be still as the hills
blown by the wind that I can’t outrun
worn from the fight that’s never done
i just wanna be… still as the hills”
One’s heart aches when one considers the human impact reading those words. Again, we have a strong Americana influence in the opening slide guitar and the vocals describing the day the disease decided to turn up one day and “stick around”, the quality of the guitar work on this as mighty as one would expect from the guests. A modern-day blues track which I regard as a classic of its kind, the voice belted out by Anna so soul infused.
This is another quality release from Loveridge, who has faced this adversity with the release of music which acts as a chronicle, and I highly recommend it to you.