Far From Saints

Product Information

Kelly, Patty and Dwight first experimented playing together when performing a cover version of Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty’s ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’ on Kelly Jones’ solo UK tour in 2019 (Dwight and Patty were openers for Kelly each night). It is the opening track from their eagerly anticipated self-titled debut album, which follows on June 16th. After The Wind and The Wave had toured with Stereophonics in 2013, Jones reconnected with the duo in 2019, asking them to open for his solo tour.

The country influences are immediately evident in the opener, “Screaming Hallelujah,” with finger-picked acoustic guitar offering a warm welcome to the album. Its impact was reiterated when Far From Saints’ headline show at London’s EartH Theatre on June 5 thsold-out within two hours. Very soon on that UK tour, the three found themselves jamming and co-writing songs in backstage hallways, dressing rooms, soundchecks and hotels. The penultimate song, “Let The Light Shine Over You”, once again inspires, with the trio offering the advice, “Pick up the things you love and put down the things you don’t”.They will then follow their sold-out June 5 th headline show at London’s EartH Theatre by supporting Kings Of Leon at their two headline shows at Wrexham FC on May 27 th and 28 th.

Pat Metheny’s “dream boxes” are his much-loved, hollow-bodied electric guitars and here the ever-questing master guitarist forsakes his expansive band format for these nine intimately laid down solo tracks, recorded over the past few years and “rediscovered” on his laptop. The reflective “Gonna Find What’s Killing Me” proves uplifting, with Jones and Lynn again declaring, “I’m still alive”. Although fans of Stereophonics may have been expecting Jones to offer more of a rock-driven sound, the genre-spanning record proves enthralling. Let’s Turn This Back Around” encapsulates the irresistible natural magnetism that comes when two evocative voices are drawn together. Far From Saints sees Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics team up with Patty Lynn and Dwight Baker of The Wind and The Wave to present an album that successfully freewheels through genres from country to folk with an additional touch of Americana.Far From Saints is a thrilling partnership with The Wind and the Wave's Patty Lynn (vocals) and Dwight Baker (guitar), the culmination of a friendship that began when they supported Stereophonics on their 2013 tour. Mainly his own compositions, there are also three covers including dreamy deliberations on Russ Long’s Never Was Love and the fond bossa sashaying of the Bonfá-Maria standard Morning of the Carnival. Jack Penate delivers one of the strongest guest vocals, floating gracefully over the hands-in-the-air celebration of No Time. Friendly engagement informs her solo performances, a tonal directness that conveys profundity, even if her lyrical articulation occasionally lacks the necessary fluidity. Kanneh-Mason is at her most rounded and assured in the Dohnányi, interacting vivaciously and mischievously with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Domingo Hindoyan.

They booked recording sessions, one at the end of each leg of the tour and completed the entire album in just nine days. Next up for Far From Saints are two warm-up shows in Glasgow and Leeds, which immediately sold out, as did next month’s debut full headline show at London’s EartH Theatre. They booked two sessions – one at the end of each leg of the tour – and completed the debut album in just nine days.As much as I've try to do as many different things over the course of 12 albums, it's still kind of branded as Stereophonics. Jones went on: “I think Stereophonics is the type of band and the type of music with a catalogue that’s set in stone plus the new stuff that’s happening. We can only hope that this isn’t just a one-off and that we might see more from this supergroup who are clearly at ease with each other. Their first two releases, ‘Let’s Turn This Back Around’ and ‘Take It Through The Night’, have won strong radio support from the likes of Bob Harris and Jo Whiley, with a groundswell of initial critical acclaim emerging.