Milow - Silver Linings (2014/2022) [Hi-Res]

If Milow detests anything, it's repetition. Each of his albums stands for a specific time. While the previous album North And South, an absolute feel-good work, stood for the realisation of his dream of being able to tour Europe without interruption, on Silver Linings Jonathan Vandenbroeck shows his melancholy side as a clearly matured artist personality. The ten songs on the album enchant with the irresistible hooks for which the charismatic musician was already loved on his earlier albums. The songs have great pull, possess depth and reveal the innermost. In the past, Milow wrote very direct, literal lyrics, but on Silver Linings he works with images and metaphors. Although it is always about very personal experiences as well as introspective thoughts and ideas, Milow's songs have a universal dimension, the messages in his songs are individually comprehensible.

Sometimes in life you have to let go to get things back on track. That was also true for Milow. The charismatic singer/songwriter from Belgium landed one hit after another from 2006 onwards, triumphed in countless concerts as a grandiose storyteller and musician. No question: The first decade of the new millennium is inseparably linked with the soft, yet enormously haunting voice of Jonathan Vandenbroeck, as Milow's real name is. And with his top hits like "Ayo Technology", "You Don't Know", "You And Me (In My Pocket)" or "Little In The Middle".

After a longer break from touring, the artist will present his new songs - as well as all the big hits, of course - at the already very well sold "We Must Be Crazy" summer dates in Wolfhagen, Munich, Salem, Hanau and Bochum. An extensive headlining tour through Europe will follow in autumn. Between 4 September and 26 November, Milow will perform in Berlin, Hamburg, Flensburg, Bremen, Cologne, Hanover, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Bielefeld and Bamberg. Together with his top-class band, Milow will once again underline his status as a great musician and charismatic live performer.

At the end of 2011, however, it was time for Milow to pause. "I felt incredibly drained after five years of touring virtually non-stop," he says. Physically as well as mentally. So in January 2012 he spontaneously bought a ticket for a flight to Los Angeles, rented a flat there and did nothing for a while. "Just relax. And above all: sleep!" he says about his first time in the Californian metropolis. A musician of his calibre cannot, of course, keep his creativity under lock and key indefinitely. Soon he had melodies and song lines in his head again. Sounding ideas that gradually matured and finally became complete songs - excellent, catchy and compelling songs from his new album "Silver Linings". One of the first titles: the single "We Must Be Crazy". About this piece of self-reflection bathed in wonderful harmonies, Milow says: "The song describes my personal journey, but at the same time it's also aimed at all those who also feel trapped in some way and would like a change."

Milow recorded most of the songs on the new album live at Fairfax Recordings studio in L.A.. A music history sound forge (formerly called Sound City Studios) where album classics by Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Nirvana and Tom Petty were created. Hardly less legendary during the sessions were his accompanying musicians. Among them: Larry Goldings (James Taylor, Maceo Parker) and drummer Matt Chamberlain (Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie). Milow's sound concept for "Silver Linings" was "the magic of the moment" - a magic that happens when "great musicians make music together. With the aim of creating something timeless."

The sensitive musician has fully succeeded in this demanding endeavour. Musically more varied than ever, the spiritual chronicler of our world strings together song pearl after song pearl. Sometimes he wraps his poetic song lines in gentle pop-folk sounds, then again - as in the elegiac "Echoes In The Dark" - he uses modern sounds and rhythms.

"Accordingly, these are then also turned out in a relaxed manner, only rarely is the tempo picked up on SILVER LININGS..." (Good Times)