Rhett
May - Creatures of the Night
The
exotic and wholly improbable journey Rhett May has made since his birth in the
far flung locale of Calcutta, India is the stuff that makes great movies. The
influence of western music made its way to the far flung east by the mid-60’s
and Rhett May, in response, formed his first band at the tender age of fifteen.
The Wooly Bullys soon morphed into The Flint Stones and attracted national
attention as India’s most popular musical act of the era. Their hit song “Be
Mine (Happy by My Side)” was released by the HMV/EMI label and May and his
young band mates parlayed that success into interest from iconic Beatles
guitarist George Harrison and concert appearances in the UK. May emigrated from
India in 1969 and ended up in Australia where he formed another band that went
through a number of name changes before settling on the name Lucifer. Lucifer
experienced significant success in the region and frequently opened for major
touring acts like Queen and Ray Charles. Changing fashions knocked May’s
musical career out of the box and, by the late seventies, May would find
himself exiled from popular music for three decades. Four years after his
return with the 2013 EP Insatiable, Rhett May’s latest full length album
Creatures of the Night proves that passion never dies.
The
album kicks off in a memorable way with the track “Somebody’s Watching You”.
May’s talent for building tracks, following time-tested rock music dynamics, is
obvious early on and makes this track a real punchy opener. There’s a brash
boisterousness about this that separates Rhett May from his peers and his
vocals are rough-hewn, in some ways, but energetic and intensely melodic. “Back
Seat of My Chevy” has a bit of a different tenor and an obvious more personal
slant while the album’s title track provides listeners with May’s first
stunning stylistic shift in the collection. It’s a dark, somewhat foreboding
number that finds May conjuring tremendous atmosphere without ever risking
self-indulgence. “Latex Lady”, one of the album’s highlighted cuts, is a
character study in essence, but it also finds May returning to familiar rock
and roll ground and the mix of instruments is sure to garner a lot of
attention.
“Kiss
Your Mama with That Mouth” is one of the most creative cuts on Creatures of the
Night. There’s an impressive sensitivity in the song that the title belies, but
there’s an equal amount of attitude fueling the performance. The album’s
longest track, “Elixir of the Gods”, recalls May’s upbringing in India, but the
exotic textures he incorporates are never laid on too thick and there’s enough
of a suggestion to make this stand out even more than the other high quality
cuts surrounding this one. “Sing for Me” has some of the same personal air
we’ve heard on earlier tracks, but this never strikes one as a purely
confessional number. Instead, May’s songwriting serves himself and the audience
alike thanks to his skills for making the personal universal. Creatures of the
Night is a fantastic release and will win May countless new adherents.
9
out of 10 stars
Michael
Saulman
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