Find Me – Lightning In A Bottle

Find Me are a Swedish/American project band that GDM has reviewed since day one, and now we’re up to album no. 4.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Find Me
ALBUM: Lightning In A Bottle
LABEL: Frontiers SRL
SERIAL: FRCD 1204
YEAR: 2022

CD INFO: Discogs Info

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

LINEUP: Robbie Leblanc – lead and backing vocals * Michael Palace – guitars * Daniel Flores – guitar, bass, keyboards, drums * Ronny Tobro – bass * Vince DiCola – keyboards (#2) * Rolf Pilotti – keyboards * Fernando San Martin – percussion * Angelica Rylin – backing vocals

TRACK LISTING: 01 Survive * 02 Far From Over (Frank Stallone cover) * 03 Sail Away * 04 Back To You * 05 Diana * 06 Distant Echoes * 07 Remember (It’s Me) * 08 You And I * 09 Under A Bad Sign * 10 Give My Heart * 11 On The Run

RATING:

WEBLINKS: NA

Background

Find Me are a Swedish/American project band that have been in existence since 2013. GDM has reviewed every album they’ve done, and now we’re up to album #4. The Find Me formula hasn’t changed any, but perhaps my ears are susceptible in my old age. What do I mean by that exactly? If there is one noticeable observation it’s this – very rarely do we hear Robbie singing in a natural pitch.

Everything is overblown vocal power at a note or two higher than the baseline, and this makes for an overwhelming and uncomfortable listen. Would Robbie do this in an unplugged setting? I hope not. It may very well have been the case on previous Find Me albums, but strangely, this observation came to my attention listening to this album. Possibly because I’ve recently had an audiology exam and an ear wax removal. There we go, that’s the answer. Lol.

The Songs

Despite that finding, there are still some gems to be found among the eleven tracks. ‘Survive’ is a damn catchy opener, but that chorus was on the level of breaking point as the vocals became too much of a dominant source. Leblanc was really reaching for the sky on this one. Of interest is a cover of the Frank Stallone chestnut ‘Far From Over’ given a 2022 makeover from keyboard god Vince DiCola. Love it.

‘Sail Away’ is a nice track, Robbie not quite jetting off into the stratosphere. There are several mild sounding sections which helps counter the potential OTT nature of the lead vocal. ‘Back To You’ is the first power ballad, things are mostly tempered as you would expect. ‘Diana’ is the second power ballad though disguised as a mid level rocker. Many fans would enjoy it, but if it was pitched as a heartbreak song then they chose the wrong template. ‘Remember (It’s Me)’ was a song crying out for subtlety and expression, instead we got vocal bombast. Not a good fit.

‘You And I’ was a promising track, some good ideas, it just needed more melodic overlays and less emphasis on an overpowering voice and guitar solo flurry. Sometimes less is more. From a songtitle perspective, it’s a pity that ‘Under A Bad Sign’ had been polluted by David Coverdale over the years. Any mention of the title from any other artist/act gets an immediate red card from me and a quick flick through to the next track, sorry to say. ‘Give My Heart’ is one of the better tracks, I can just imagine Daughtry performing this on American Idol.

In Summary

My reservations about the overpowering vocal has been mentioned. Here’s two other gripes. The songwriting needs more work. Song titles and lyrical phrasing are so boringly blaise, come on guys, how about writing something more captivating? Also, Michael Palace’s guitar work is pretty good mostly, but the overall sound here is remarkably thin and the solos are totally uninteresting. Listen to Joel Hoekstra to see how it’s done. More thought needs to go into the arranging and solos. I challenge Find Me to push their musical boundaries to the hilt. I’ll be hanging out waiting for the next episode.

Video

Survive

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