When an artist releases a new album and claims it's their best to date, the cliché police should really spring into action and slap on the handcuffs. But, when British blues guitarist Danny Bryant rolled out that familiar phrase when discussing ‘Temperature Rising’, he whacked the nail on the head with a definitive hammer blow.
Although Bryant's last effort – 'Hurricane' - was notable for some superb guitar playing, the album was inconsistent, with its few winning moments tempered by an over reliance on aping his influences, formulaic songwriting and ropey vocal delivery. What a difference a year makes.
Although he'll never sing with the class of Robert Cray or Gary Clark Jr, what's noticeable here is that when he's performing stronger material his vocal shortcomings are a lot less bothersome. And the leap in the consistency and quality of the songs on 'Temperature Rising' is impressive.
His burly growl on the thumping Best Of Me is commanding and full of weathered soul, complementing the sledgehammer rhythms and a solo that drags every ounce of juice out of his wah wah pedal.
Producer Richard Hammerton, meanwhile, bulks up Take Me Higher's infectiously rousing chorus with backing singers to the add power and joie de vivre Bryant can't manage by himself. Repeated listens to 'Hurricane' diminished the album's effectiveness as its blues-rock conventions became too apparent, but 'Temperature Rising sounds better with each spin.
Razor Sharp is a particular highlight, another vehicle that matches Bryant's cracked rasp with rhythms that strike like fists dipped in glass. The title track is even sharper and, although it swaggers along with an identical cadence to Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World, Bryant has used it as a building block to create a stunning anthem. The grumpy old Canadian would most certainly approve.
The ballads on his last effort seemed like watered down Gary Moore efforts, but the two here are excellent. Together Through Life and Time sound so genuine it's as though he has been dumped by a long term girlfriend via text message on the same day he lost a winning lottery ticket.
We're used to his exceptional guitar work, but really shouldn't take it for granted as the solos on 'Temperature Rising' are pretty special. Although judged to perfection - in terms of construction, phrasing and ability to elevate the material - it's his tone that mesmerises. If you're turned on by great guitar passages then don't listen to this record in a public place, because it's filthy stuff.
Even the album's seemingly generic blues workouts – Nothing At All and Mystery – are delivered with such sweaty bar-room fervour that their obvious Stevie Ray Vaughan-meets-Chuck Berry stylings feel delightful as opposed to copycat. The album comes to a moody close on the dusky western blues of Guntown, with more searing lead work and a sound that has that earthy, cowboy-cool dynamic of a certain Joe Bonamassa.
If Bryant joins forces with a singer who possesses the same level of talent as he does on the guitar, the world will be his oyster. That said, if he keeps making albums like this, he'll do very nicely indeed on his own.
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