Sound of the Blue Heart – Wind of Change (Hollows Hill Sound Recordings)

Songwriter JOHNNY INDOVINA has been knocking around the L.A. music scene for over 20 years, first with the well-regarded HUMAN DRAMA and now with SOUND OF THE BLUE HEART. The differences between HD and SotBH are pretty miniscule, frankly – the former’s sense of regal drama, which endeared it to gothic rock audiences, is largely absent from the latter, but that’s a minor adjustment to arrangements, not an artistic rethink. Indovina’s vision remains the same, filtering intense studies of shifting emotional currents through a traditionalist songwriting aesthetic and singing as if nothing is more important than the words issuing from his mouth. That sounds like arrogance, but it’s simply giving the songs the respect they deserve in the moment. Regardless of perspective, the band’s dramatic, melodic pop/rock – like anthems scaled down for coffeehouse listening – shines with intelligence, compassion, poetic weight and heart on Wind of Change. Whether it’s in the stately “The Poisoning,” the jazzy “Violet’s Wish,” the melancholy “Never” or the beautiful take on BOB DYLAN‘s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Indovina and his crew search for states of grace within shades of grey with taste and beauty. The penultimate tune is called “Life is Beautiful, Life is Cruel,” and Sound of the Blue Heart encapsulates that notion.

http://www.soundoftheblueheart.com