Following on from a stunning UK tour at the tail end of 2023, that saw the revered guitarist playing to venues packed to the point of combustion, Philip Sayce is back with The Wolves Are Coming, his ninth album and his first studio effort in some four years. A thrilling and genuinely engaging album, it pitches Philip as a unique artist, whose interests run the gamut from trad-blues and hard rock through 90s alternative to the contemporary exploits of Royal Blood. With a crunchy production, it’s a multi-genre rollercoaster that will attract as many new fans as it thrills existing followers.
Philip clearly decided to take no prisoners when he opted to open with the explosive Oh! That Bitches Brew, which sounds like Hendrix and Cream dualling for hard rock supremacy. A stunning if not necessarily representative offering, it sets the stage for an eleven-track album that roams freely around Philip’s myriad influences, all of which may be tethered to the blues, but with enough flexibility to allow for some surprising digressions. Take the funky strut of Lady Love Divine, for example, which ditches the pyrotechnics for a Prince-infused number, complete with richly textured backing vocals and fret-board razing guitar work. Philip is not content to stand still, however, and he rolls the dice once more as he launches into the lively Babylon Is Burning, which mixes blues, indie, and disco for a scratchy rocker with a memorable chorus and some truly ferocious soloing. Keeping things fluid, it’s back to the funk for Your Love, which sees Philip’s wah-pedal taking some serious stick, before It’s Over Now arrives as a slower-paced number. With a stronger emphasis on keys and a Robert Cray vibe, it’s a lovely moment and perfect counterpoint to the more vibrant material that set the album off. There’s still more to come, however, and to close the side we get the stabbing rocker Black Moon, which is the first of two tracks that recall Brit-rockers Royal Blood.
Opening the second side, Blackbirds Fly Alone is a surprising piece that dips its toe into the waters of mid-90s alternative rock, complete with a psychedelic edge. A very different track to anything that has gone before, it has a reflective edge and some typically fantastic guitar work, but it’s the melody that remains most firmly embedded in the mind. After so many departures, it’s almost a surprise when blues rocker The Moon Is Fullbursts upon the scene to echo the heavy cream of the opening track. A full on rocker, you get the feeling the band really had fun cutting loose on this one. No less energetic is Backstabber which, as the name implies, is no gentle track, as Philip plunges back into surging Royal Blood territory. With the album flying past, Philip turns the lights down low for a lovely instrumental titled Intuition. A song riven with raw emotion, it features some of the album’s most evocative guitar work, reminiscent of that which Eric Clapton recorded with Michael Kamen, and it’ll leave you entranced. The album concludes with the incongruously titled This Is Hip, which sees Philip bust out the acoustic guitar for a stripped-down finale that sounds as if it was recorded in one take at the end of the album sessions. It’s an offbeat, but impressive way to end so eclectic a set, and it leaves you already eager for Philip’s next endeavour.
An artist who constituently challenges himself, Philip Sayce has delivered a monster with The Wolves Are Coming. Combining lifelong loves with contemporary influences over the course of the eleven varied tracks on offer, Philip showcases his skill, and it says much of his natural charisma that he manages to tie it all together so effectively. While the production feels a touch too polished at times, The Wolves Are Coming is, overall, an explosive offering from a master guitarist. 8.5/10
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