Innuendo’s Jigsaw Sunset will be one of the best melodic hard rock AOR album releases of 2024. Variations of this statement are made ALL the time, but in this case, it’s true. Jigsaw Sunset is a 14-song, 52+ minute album and is Innuendo’s 10th release. on XLR8 Records since 1995.
Release date: July 1, 2024
We featured in the past previous albums from indie American band INNUENDO, a 3-piece group that doesn’t care about trends and play the music they love, ranging from melodic rock, pop-rock to retro ’80s and classic rock. One thing is for sure, when you listen to INNUENDO you know this is an American band.
INNUENDO manages everything by themselves; songwriting, production, mix, mastering, etc, and as said, they play the music they feel in their heart – and their new album “Jigsaw Sunset” is a perfect example of that eclecticism.
Opener ‘Just Like This’ has a melodic hard style with cool spatial synths, some kind of Triumph meets Shooting Star, next the melodic ‘Chasing Yesterday’ adds harmonies in the vein of Biloxi, followed by a multi-part vocal based slow tune ‘Cross That Line’. All three songs quite different, and here’s the charm of INNUENDO.
‘Different Highways’ is a rocker where Pat Laferty’s voice shows a little Paul Stanley solo color, then things drastically shifts on follower ‘Misunderstood’, a balladistic tune with a Nineties Robby Valentine vibe. We change again with the slightly pompous ‘Sometimes I Forget’ recalling some ’80s Petra.
‘Frequent Flyer’ take us back to a Seventies inspired sound with a pinch of Styx, and more variation appears with the melodic proggy ‘Where the Sky Meets the Ocean’ where Kansas appears in the horizon.
“Jigsaw Sunset” is another strong INNUENDO album with many styles and sound variation, yet cohesive. There’s many influences, however the band achieve their own sound. Perhaps the group needs to improve production with the help of an experienced cat in this matter, but this is an independent band and doesn’t wish interferences in their art.
Highly Recommended
1. Just Like This
2. Chasing Yesterday
3. Cross That Line
4. Hard To Pretend
5. Different Highways
6. Misunderstood
7. Sometimes I Forget
8. Frequent Flyer
9. Where The Sky Meets The Ocean
10. Trying Not To Look
11. The Weakest Man Alive
12. The World We Left Behind
13. Uncharted Territory
14. Until We Meet Again
Innuendo – Jigsaw Sunset 2024, MP3+FLAC