Dorian Sorriaux – Children of the Moon
Release Date: 14th June 2024
Label: The Sign Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Folk, Blues, Acoustic.
FFO: Neil Young, Nick Drake, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Best known for being the lead guitarist of blues rockers Blue Pills for six years, Dorian Sorriaux is now focusing on his solo project, creating psychedelic folk music inspired by the artists of the 60s and 70s, such as Neil Young, Nick Drake and Van Morrison. Following on from his well received Hungry Ghost EP is this full ten track album.
First thing to make absolutely clear, this album is stunningly good. If you think that folk music is all about people in home-made kaftans, with twigs in their hair, singing about fertility rituals and blessing the soil. Think again. This is exquisitely crafted music that breaks down the raw components of folk and blues and remixes them into ten tracks that seep into your soul and just make you feel a better person. Hyperbolic? Maybe, but hard to argue against on the evidence of songs as good as the swelling and broody To The Water.
Comparisons have been made between Dorian and legendary bluesmen such as Peter Green, and that’s no exaggeration. The spirit of early Fleetwood Mac is pulsing through the veins of Children Of The Moon, especially so on the wonderfully sprightly Shine So Bright. Elsewhere, on the shimmering In The End the Neil Young influence can be heard in Dorian’s beautiful and delicate vocals, before he ‘plugs in’ and signs off with an electric flourish.
Some simply sublime vocal harmonies lay across the soothing melody of Just A Little More like easing tired feet into a pair of comfy slippers, before the sky above darkens the final track, with some regret, and slips slowly beneath the surface of the water, just like the proverbial Sunken Ship.
It’s not Metal. It’s not Rock. But, it is brilliant, and you shouldn’t be worried about giving it a listen, because as the man himself says, “I’m not here to judge you”.
(4.5 / 5)
