Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There is an undeniably cool swagger that accompanies the music of Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado, it has been evident since the very beginning, and those who find their way to the venues in search of brilliance are never disappointed, never found wanting, and the same obviously goes for the studio and live albums recorded by the Danish musician and the band that he surrounds himself with, for in the subtle majesty that the experience envelops for the listener, one thing becomes abundantly clear, the construction of the music is one set on solid foundations and established substance.
A home is only as significant as the material utilised, but it also requires builders, craftspeople, artisans, creators with imagination to take it from a home of sand to a tightly woven and comfortable House Of Sticks which has all the beauty and audacity of being a mansion in the eyes of those seeking sanctuary and peace. Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado powerfully showcase their new album off with all the plentiful drama that comes from a set of songs that captivate the guest as much as one of a domestic traveller stumbling upon architectural gold.
House Of Sticks is to be seen as big, bold, and beautifully extensive, it is the swagger with optimism, of a truth able to walk out through their own front door onto the street and have all look upon them with glad tidings and joy for being in the presence of an inner light that radiates outwards and is strong enough to care for all it meets.
Joining Thorbjørn Risager in the reveal of time and energy stands the figures of their own wealthy illumination, Emil Balsgaard, Joachim Svensmark, Kasper Wagner, Hans Nybo, Peter W Kehl, Søren Bøjgaard, and Martin Seidelin, and as the sound merges, as it ebbs and flows and weaves through the conscious of the ideas in full fledged motion. In tracks such as Light Of Your Love, Said I Was Hurt, Out Of The Rain, the excellent feel of Climbed A Mountain, and the ripping opener of the album title track, House Of Sticks, truly find a willing audience, one ready for the grand opening of an estate where everything is within reach, where every amenity is close at hand, and the aspiration and the dreams of its residents are uppermost in the thoughts of the eternal designer and the engineer of musical affluence.
A sensational album, Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado at their most commanding and influential.
Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado release House Of Sticks on January 31st via Provogue Records.
Ian D. Hall