After 35 years of being away from his passion, guitarist/songwriter Will Prince is back in business. Teaming up with producer Joe Lonsdale and Nashville-based vocalist Chris Cron, Distant Lights was born under the name of Trevena unleashing Prince‘s guitar-based tunes. And we’re super lucky this happened, let me tell you why
Roll The Bones opens the record on a highly energetic note. Its country mixed with rock n roll sound has the coolest groove and catchiest guitar melodies. Significant opener with some guitar work that made me super excited to dig deeper into Distant Lights. With a warm emotional acoustic-based sound comes Danse Macabre, it has some moving deep arpeggios with an amazing progression into some wild wailing guitars in a crazy entertaining structure. Trevena unleashed some outstanding writing skills on this one, it has seamless transitions with a smooth dynamic structure and a beautifully written progression. Building more on the acoustic direction comes the power ballad One More Drink. It has a smooth flow led by a warm expressive vocal melody in total harmony and even elevates its sound into a bigger one. Maybe This Time comes next keeping the acoustic sound up with more alternative fluid sound. Going with a faster pace and heavier with some laidback mood uplifting melodies. Right in the middle of the record, we return back to rocking tunes with Ghosts. A modern-sounding upbeat mood with a fat entertaining bassline, jazzy groovy drumming, and heavily dynamic guitars. Loved the clever conversation going between guitar and vocal melodies right at that catchy chorus, and the shredding guitar solo came right at the perfect timing blasting the mood. Blind Leading The Blind keeps up with Ghosts‘ mood with a return to the country-influenced sound mixed with rock n roll, Trevena‘s mix that brings fast melodic melodies together with shreddy sharp guitar licks and pretty interesting deep basslines in a mellow fluid structure. The 7th track Thinking of You brings back their signature acoustic-oriented sound, those guys handle this mix really well, mixing acoustic guitars with electric bluesy melodies in perfect harmony with a solid bassline controlling the pace and dreamy vocals, producing deep powerful ballads. Following the acoustic track comes Kerenza, with a storytelling fantasy sound and floating melodies. It has the smoothest flow and the most heart-hitting emotional vibes in a calming soothing structure. Looks Like Rain spices things up around the end of the record with its moving groove, lovely smooth flow, and catchy beautiful melodies. I loved the chorus’s catchy amazing vocals/guitars harmony, and the floating melodic easy-going progression resulting in a dynamic structure with welcoming melodies and sound that draws a big smile on your face and makes you play it over and over again, my favorite song off the record. Drift Away ends the record the way it began, on a high note. Showing off their writing skills, it sounds like a beautiful conclusion to the record, with its beautifully flowing melodies, streaming smooth structure, and chilling sound. Mixing acoustic and electric guitars in Trevena‘s perfect blend with a tint of a Reggie groove and a progression that keeps on growing into a big dreamy sound. A beautiful ending to a beautiful sound trip by Trevena.
Distant Lights is a wonderful demonstration of Trevena‘s top-notch songwriting and amazing sense of melody. Those guys mix and match melodies and emotionally loaded sounds smoothly with soft seamless progressions and super catchy structures. Looking forward to more from Trevena, keep on rocking guys. Cheers!
