Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
When the Devil Came Calling is when perhaps you should have paid more attention. For some the celestial siren plea is not enough to bring on the sweat of inspiration, it takes a deeper growl in which to stir the human body to find the place where their perception of artistry is at its most beautiful, scintillating and achingly sublime. For Robert Johnson it was the apparent meeting on a crossroads, for many an artist it is perhaps a reflection of what the muse can lead them to in terms of obsession, of the darker side of their personality; sometimes we need to listen to the voice that offers a moment of explosive excellence in return for a little piece of our soul.
How we interpret the words of the darker side of humanity, for art as a solo endeavour is riddled with being consumed, with being arguably an act of redemption and of a passion that few at the time can truly grasp. In this act of pursuit, occasionally we have to write down and memorise when the Devil Came Calling, what incantation of words and notes were used to raise the beautiful wraith like appearance of inspiration.
It is the genial but ecstatic approach used by the phenomenal Sunjay, and one that across songs such as Mean & Ugly, Too Close To The Sun, King Of My Own Country, Johnny & The Devil, Tell Me and The Truth, takes the performer into a place of music that transcends absolutely even the exquisite nature to which his previous albums occupied.
The song writing is arguably Sunjay’s best, a mix of high-octane drama and refusal to give in to the gentle suburban feel that occasionally is the downfall of many an artist in search of a powerful beat. The album also benefits from the combination of additional musicians in Charlie Barker, Darren Barnes, Pete Bond, Katriona Gilmore, Ian Jennings, Eddy Morton, Lee Southall and Dan Walsh, all performing to the extraordinary laid down as The Devil Came Calling.
A beast of an album, but one that doesn’t hold temptation as an excuse to damn, instead it offers a piece of time which is wholesome and willing the listener to experience an appeal to humanity’s creativity; a lesson that we can all accept the invitation to.
Sunjay’s Devil Came Calling is out now.
Ian D. Hall