Newman have been for me one of the best AOR bands to come out of the UK, Steve Newman not only has a great voice but has had to ability to create some really excellent albums over the last seventeen years and although it has taken some time to click with me The Elegance Machine is another in the sequence although it is maybe not in the same vein as previous albums and has a slightly harder edge and a more serious subject matter generally than say Siren which was maybe a little brighter, this isn’t saying that it’s a bad thing, just that it’s a little different. But there is plenty of variation here, Steve has not been afraid to approach a subject that many artists would give a wide berth in domestic abuse, and I for one commend him for it. The flip side being the album ending on a beautiful haunting ballad in ‘Scars‘, which is just wonderful, simple in approach, just Steve and his piano/keyboard, there’s emotion dripping out of this one from the off and the more you listen to it the more it sinks in and tugs at something. As with everything else on the album the sound is clean and crisp, nothing less than you’d expect from these veterans.

On first listen honestly the album didn’t hit me, it took a few listens, but once the songs began to resonate it has just gotten better and better the longer I have lived with it, some of the guitar playing is excellent but for me it’s the keyboards on this album that are the real hero, they bring some of the most vital parts of songs to life and elevate them higher. There really are some excellent songs on this album, it’s not a huge surprise, and I really should have known better as it took me a couple of listens to get into Siren too.

Outside of ‘Scars‘ the standouts on this album are ‘The Suit‘ which has Geoff Wootton on backing vocals (he also adds his considerable talents to ‘One Good Reason‘ and ‘Halo‘) and is a great lead off track, as everywhere else on the album Steve sounds terrific, definitely loosing nothing at all vocally as they years pass by,  ‘One Good Reason‘ which is a really upbeat track and will no doubt sound huge live, “Send Us Salvation” again has a booming chorus and  the excellent ‘She Walks In Silence‘ which is the track that previously mentioned deals with the horrific topic of domestic abuse in not only the physical, but the mental aspect of the victim waiting for the inevitable, it’s a great piece of work and again even with the heavy subject matter the guitar and keyboard work just lift this track again. Oddly the only track that doesn’t really do anything for me is ‘Prayer For Apollo‘, not that it’s a bad song or anything, just doesn’t seem to grab me at all, that aside we have an album with twelve well crafted and balanced songs that sound great, with additional backing vocals by the excellent Mark Thompson Smith on ‘Illuminate‘, ‘Send Us Salvation‘ and ‘Pretender Surrender‘ helping to make the chorus huge on these tracks. Drums on this album have once again been taken care of by Rob McEwen and are of his usual high standard, particularly on the rousing ‘Illuminate‘.

Should you not be familiar with Newman’s work to date, this is a great place to start, The Elegance Machine has again been a really strong grower for me, and that is usually the sign of an album that will keep coming back to my playlist, then work your way backwards, Mr. Newman has created a hugely impressive catalog of AOR/Melodic Rock standards that deserve to be heard by a large audience. Should you get the chance to catch the band live do take it as they are excellent.