New Kinda Normal is a new album from Irish born artist, “Dar.Ra” on the Kusha Deep Music label. The album is driven by its high intensity and melodic musical backing, which incorporates a wide variety of power instrumentation. Filled with wall to wall action, these recordings bring to the table a resurgence of assertive rock’n’roll. It has a very 80’s hard rock sound but mixes in some futuristic synth elements as well, putting a fresh spin on things. The musicianship is solid, while the slick mix boasts a classic vibe with just the right levels of “bar room reverb.” This album contains 13 full jams, and I have a couple of favorites. Rock Steady has the most magical melody on this record, just really a great tone. The song also features some memorably creative vocal delivery (when he sings the line “my place is a mess,” the word “mess” is drawn out into nearly 5 syllables.) Another track, Heavier Than Rock’n’Roll opens with an Apocapylse Now style helicopter intro before cranking into some heavy duty rock. Diamonds N the Shadows (retro future remix version) strikes me as the most synth-rock oriented number and seems to be one of the more emotive and sentimental songs.

As a whole, New Kinda Normal has a very charismatic aura about it. This album is epic, and clearly a lot of work went into this project. Hopefully with a good push it will get the visibility it deserves.

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