Luke Morley has stood at the very heart of UK rockers Thunder since 1989 as their guitarist, chief songwriter and producer. He’s been a lynchpin in their 14 albums’ success and served a crucial role in building up these rock heroes’ loyal fanbase and enduring popularity. That’s helped Thunder enjoy 7 UK Top 10 albums and 18 Top 40 singles but with the band on hiatus right now as lead singer Danny Bowes recovers from a serious health issue, Morley confidently steps into the arena of Rock-tinged Americana with his brand-new solo album ‘Songs from The Blue Room.’
The new album is a tour de force for Luke Morley’s multiple talents: songwriter, singer, musician, and producer. Not only is he a renowned guitarist but he’s a multi-instrumentalist and plays all instruments on the album, bar drums (with Dave McCluskey taking on those duties.) ‘Songs from The Blue Room’ also brings Luke Morley’s strong, but nuanced, rock vocals to the fore where he sings lead on all tracks. We were thrilled to talk to Luke about the making of the album recently and you can read that interview right here.
‘Songs From the Blue Room’ is a confident, assured piece of work. Varied and diverse in places with hints of that Thunder Rock/Blues sound in others. All the early buzz has centred around lead single ‘Killed By Cobain’ which has a kind of Beatles meets the Kinks ‘Waterloo Sunset’ vibe to it. It’s a honest yet tongue-in-cheek look at what happened in America in the early 90s that stymied any hopes that Thunder had of breaking through over there, delivered with a grace and a class that those of us who have been Thunder fans since the early days have come to associate with Mr Morley.
Those folks looking to see where the Thunder influences lie will find a great deal of joy in ‘I’m the One You Want’ and ‘Watch the Sun Go Down’. That’s Luke Morley, himself, playing the harmonica on the latter song whilst delivering a very positive post-pandemic uplifting message. ‘I’m the One You Wan’t, meanwhile, is a hidden gem, beast of a song that will stand out in Morley’s live set if he gets the chance to take ‘…..the Blue Room’ out on tour.
Morley told us in our recent interview that there is a kind of freedom that comes with making a solo album outside of his ‘day job’ with Thunder. Freed of the shackles of fan expectation, he can be a little more relaxed with the songs, lyrics and structure and it shows across the whole of this album. There are echoes of Bob Dylan and Tom Petty in some places, classic British Rock in others. The Beatles figure in a number of places. Queen. The Faces and a whole mix of influences that make ‘Songs From the Blue Room’ a really diverse listen.
You won’t find anything more diverse on the album than ‘Nobody Cares’. Lyrically, the song reminds me of Thunder’s ‘Preaching From a Chair’ only this time we find Luke Morley having a pop at the mundanity of most people’s use of, and reliance on, social media. The left-of-centre twist, however, comes in the musical arrangement of this song which is somewhere between Greek taverna and Russian Cossack! Morley, himself, doesn’t know where the arrangement or idea came from, but thank god it did because ‘Nobody Cares’ is one of the most original songs on the album.
Nowhere else is the diversity of ‘Songs From the Blue Room’ more in evidence than on ‘Errol Flynn’ and ‘Damage’. The former is perhaps the most open and raw song on the album. It’s a treatise on male ageing and the realisation that you are old when you walk into a room and an attractive woman looks right through you. It’s also a little about Morley’s father, who sounds like something of a character if you read out interview with him. ‘Damage’, meanwhile, explores domestic abuse, the idea being initially sparked by first hand experience of a friend of Morley’s, but with a twist and a little bit of humour and tongue-in-cheek commentary. Both songs are deeply engaging and take you on a narrative journey that’s different to some of the wild rides Thunder have taken us on over the years. There is much more of a singer/songwriter vibe going on here. Not necessarily Rock, but not Rock either.
There’s a hint of Petty-esque Americana on ‘Lying to Myself’ where we see the emergence of the harmonica again. There’s also the ‘Sgt Peppers-esque Beatles melodies on album closer ‘Don’t Be Long’ that add to the general mix of sounds and styles. Cardiff based string quarter, The Brydon Quartet add to the sweeping feel of ‘Don’t Be Long’ as Morley shows us his best Paul McCartney impression on an uplifting track on which he also plays the piano and sings, poignantly, about loss.
‘Songs From the Blue Room’ is an engaging, mature and diverse listen. You can hear the link back to Morley’s ‘day job’ in Thunder just enough to satisfy the die hards but this album is much, much more an eclectic and meandering journey through the mind and music of a powerhouse staple of the British Rock scene. There is a confidence and swagger to proceedings that can only come from an artist at peace with themselves and willing to take the necessary risks for their art without having to compromise or write in a certain style. Freed of expectation, Luke Morley has let his own influences merge with this more relaxed style to form something greater than the sum of its own parts. ‘Songs From the Blue Room’ is an imaginative, relaxed and intelligent listen that will delight fans of all kinds of music and not just people looking for another ‘River of Pain’ or ‘Dirty Love’. You won’t find that here but if you are open to going on a journey alongside one of your favourite guitarists, who knows where you might end up!
Tracklist: 1. I Wanna See the Light 2. Killed by Cobain 3. Errol Flynn 4. Damage 5. Nobody Cares 6. Watch the Sun Go Down 7. Cry Like Rain 8. Lying to Myself 9. I’m the One You Want 10. Don’t Be Long Record Label: Conquest Records Release Date: June 23rd Buy ‘Songs From the Blue Room’ now
