Coming from the USA are this quartet called WINDSOR DRIVE which international self-titled full length CD was released by AOR Heaven Records. Windsor Drive are not newcomers at all: formed ten years ago and with various recordings under their belt, the band has already toured all over America and Japan, where they have a strong fan base.
Being signed by AOR Heaven you would expect, indeed, an AOR oriented product. And yeas, Windsor Drive deliver delicious songs from the lighter spectrum of the genre; light poppy AOR with lush melodies, elaborated vocal harmonies and a touch of WestCoast.
With many songs sounding like they should be on any ’80s movie soundtrack or charting high if released 25 years ago, this album feels like fresh breeze on your face in a Californian sunny beach.
To back up their rock credentials some of the songs were produced by multi-platinum producer John Fields, others by Grammy award winner Stephen Short (Phil Collins) and the rest by power pop master Bleu.
But on most the songs on “Windsor Drive” the key is the melody, no matter the background arrangements.
There’s soft numbers in the radio-friendly “Wide Eyed At Midnight”, while the gentle poppy-guitar AOR refrain of “Wish Me Well” would be a shoe-in on Chris Antblad’s daytime playlist if given a chance.
Windsor Drive have a good line in vocal harmonies as can be heard on “Bridges” and the blissful “Chasing Shores”. I guess you could just about class this album as modern WestCoast AOR on songs like “Sleepwalking”.
“Skin to Skin” adds more guitars to the mix with nice synths behind, while the elegant “Fall” will please many with its crescendo midtempo melody.
“Windsor Drive” is perfect for those who enjoy mature light poppy AOR with rock&pop sensibility in the same league as Ole Borud, Stefan Gunnarsson, State Cows, the aforementioned Antblad and many others. Smooth easy listening.
This is an enjoyable pack of glorious poppy AOR songs played with heart, rich in elaborated melodies and gorgeous vocal arrangements.
Highly Recommended
Tracklist:
01. Going Under
02. Sleepwalking
03. Bridges
04. Under the Weather
05. Wish Me Well
06. Skin to Skin
07. In Dreams
08. Wide Eyed at Midnight
09. Fall
10. Everything I Have
11. Chasing Shores
Windsor Drive – Windsor Drive – 2015, FLAC+MP3, CD-Rip w/ Scans
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