Simon RushworthBoys From Heaven — The Wanderer (Frontiers)
Smooth as silk. Sweet as saccharine. As inoffensive as a cuddle from your favourite aunt.
If politicised death metal’s your bag then look away now.
Boys From Heaven — as the gloriously cheesy band name suggests — aren’t about to upset the applecart any time soon.
The AOR version of Westlife trade in uplifting vocal harmonies, melodic rock niceties and well positioned sax solos.
Theirs is a sound rooted in America’s West Coast sometime in the mid 70s.
And the dashing Danes come bearing the gift that is album number three with neatly pressed shirts, suitably chiselled facial features and barely a hair out of place.
Oh how we’ve missed them.
In the absence of new Houston material any time soon, The Wanderer is a most welcome addition to the storied annals of AOR.
It’s an impressively bold piece of work that’s as polished as it’s precise — every song here’s been crafted to within an inch of perfection.
Three years on from The Descendent, the Boys have reunited with mixmaster general Erik Martensson to scale new heights.
And The Wanderer is proof positive that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Heaven sent? You bet.
Heaven sent
Third time’s a charm for the implausibly charming Chris Catton — Boys From Heaven’s main man is in magnificent form from start to finish.
It takes a boat load of talent and some serious self-confidence to pull off songs like Hold Your Heart, How Long and I Will Never Let You Down… with a straight face.
But Catton coasts through The Wanderer like it’s the record he was always meant to inspire.
That Boys From Heaven have finally found a home with Frontiers is hardly surprising.
The world’s leading melodic rock label was made for Catton and co.
And if this only the start then just imagine what this partnership can deliver further down the line.
Mads Noyé’s keys sprinkle AOR stardust right, left and centre.
Jonas Klintström Larsen adds the necessary sax appeal.
And Mads Schaumann is like the Scandi Steve Lukather.
I Will Never Let You Down promises Catton towards the end of truly titanic melodic rock masterpiece.
He sings it like he means it.
And who could ever doubt the Boys From Heaven?
