Winter Ten Songs East Central One Ltd. Win03 Frequent visitors to these shores from Sweden produce fine third album. Having worked with acclaimed producer Malcolm Burn on their last release, Winter wanted to return to their roots and record an album back in Sweden . TEN SONGS is the result and every song is a real gem, none forgettable, all memorable, just about all songs have a hook and indeed this is quite a commercial release that would fit in nicely with Radio Two play lists quite easily. All songs are written by lead singer and guitarist Anna-Lena Winter apart from Shadow On The Wall a co write with band member Hakan Svensson, the band produced and arranged the album themselves, losing nothing from not having a top producer in charge. The opening track Faith is a slow rocking ballad, a tale of how the world has changed for the worse, but could be better if we just have faith. Anna's vocal delivery has been compared favourably with Lucinda Williams and this shows up well on tracks such as Out Of Sight and Sweet Goodbye, (now released as a single) The rhythm section of Abbe Abrahamsson on drums and bassist Johan Stromberg hold the beat throughout and never put a foot wrong, a joy to listen to. Personal favourite for me is the beautiful Love In Disguise a song about a couple still together long after the love has left, this is a real classic and I could see Terry Wogan or Jeremy Vine playing this on one of their shows during the day, not hidden away in the grave yard shift, very commercial. Guitarist Hakan Svensson is a superb player and seems to play in a very relaxed way, listen to him on tracks such as Carry Me and Artificial Love to see what I mean, switching from acoustic to Z Z Top style lead on the latter. At just over 38 minutes long it's not the longest album in the world, but what you get is quality before quantity I would rather listen to ten good songs than a longer release with the all too often collection of dull tracks that you end up just skipping. Umbrella Bar strays close to good old British pub rock territory and features the only additional musician Ulf Stenberg on keyboards. The album closes with The Rage a truly emotional song about the terrible events of the Tsunami disaster that will pull at your heart strings and is sung with Anna showing real emotion and this really comes across well, very genuine. The album was recorded in an old Swedish mission house called Rackeby Chapel, chosen for superb acoustics and this gives the cd a very live feel. I really cannot fault this release and therefore give it the full five stars and it is certainly in my top five for 2007, highly recommended. JHS www.maverick-country.com

More Swedes, more great music

I don't know what it is they put in the branvinn in Sweden, but its having the right effect. Following hot on the heels of The Willy Clay Band, Andi Almqvist and The Lancaster Orchestra, Winter have produced an album of Americana covering rootsy rock, biting ballads, country leanings and moody songs with the emphasis on melodies.

Anna-Lena's characteristic vocals are calm, warm and guiding. They lead you through the complexities of emotions and can make you feel sad and happy simultaneously. Don't listen to this album with a broken heart though. She'll make you wonder if it's worth going on, particularly on ‘Don't be Waiting'. A song of selfish approach to love, the subsequent break up and the strength of the broken hearted partner.

As the album title states, there are ten songs here, all of which have a tale to tell and boy do they. Opener ‘Faith' sets the standard and the others manage to reach the same dizzy heights. ‘Out of Sight' reinforces the quality of the song writing and musicianship, whilst ‘Love in Disguise' manages to exceed them. ‘Artificial Love' echoes the psychedelic rock of the late 60's and outlines what to do to cover up sadness - not all of it legal. ‘Carry Me' uplifts the listener with its sense of hope and dispels those occasional negative thoughts we have about the future of relationships.

Recorded over five days – yes you read that right – the band locked themselves into a recording studio miles from anywhere and laid these tracks down. The results are impressive, particularly when having to travel 25 miles to eat. Being hungry obviously fired up the creative juices. Winter tour the UK frequently. Do yourself, buy this album and go and see them. You'll be glad you did.

Date review added:   Monday, September 04, 2006
Reviewer: Phil Edwards
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link: Winter website

www.americana-uk.com

Live at The Band Room on the North York Moors

" We have a policy here that everyone who plays The Band Room must have released at least one critically-acclaimed CD - it's the simplest form of quality control and it has never let us down.
So we knew Winter (who have now recorded two tremendous CDs, Million Miles and Ten Songs) were going to be good. But we had no idea they were going to be this good.
On the night they played The Band Room they virtually blew us away. This is a band that draws on rock, pop, Americana, folk, roots and blues in a delightful, seamless fusion which in live performance - propelled by Anna-Lena's clever, incisive lyrics and charismatic stage presence - is as powerful as anything around right now. Influence wise, you can hear bits of Lucinda Williams, 10,000 Maniacs and Fleetwood Mac.
But the band's origins are so skilfully assimmilated it's impossible to pinpoint exactly where all this comes from. The sound is their own, completely contemporary - and the impact as direct as classic rock. In fact their show here was so incendiary it left me convinced they need to record a live album as soon as possible. Because live they're even better than they are in the studio.
Winter are as tight as Blondie and as epic as U2."

By Nigel Burnham, who runs The Band Room on the North York Moors www.thebandroom.co.uk

Winter, "Ten Songs"