New band Mirador have made a huge impact with their first offering, giving a stunning vista of heavy Delta blues, blistering riffs and solos with some melodic magic too.
Mirador – Mirador
Release Date: Out Now
Words: Liz Medhurst
Mirador may be a new name on the scene, however, its members have a reassuring ring of familiarity, being a collaboration between Greta Van Fleet’s guitarist Jake Kiszka and Chris Turpin from British alt-rocker duo Ida Mae.
The pair met a few years back after Ida Mae supported Greta Van Fleet, Jake later guesting on the band’s album Click Click Domino, and some sparks clearly were ignited as Mirador was born last year.
The lineup is rounded out with Mikey Sorbello, the powerful drummer from the much-missed heavy duo The Graveltones and bassist Nick Pini, who is usually found in the jazz world but is clearly a versatile performer able to cross genres with ease.
After a spell on a US tour supporting Greta Van Fleet, the quartet headed into Dave Cobb’s (Chris Stapleton, Rival Sons) studio in Savannah, Georgia, where twelve songs were laid down live.
The result, the self-titled album, is arresting, being chock full of content where different influences are incorporated, alchemised into a much greater whole, a cavernous, high-intensity space with powerful overtones.
The two distinctive guitarists also share vocal duties, and neither outshines the other in these areas. The rhythm section provides the strongest of foundations, reining in excess and anchoring the whole sound, stopping it from taking off into space.
Recording live in Georgia appears to have been part of the influence, too, as you can almost feel the humidity from the swamp oozing out of every hole in the speakers. The dirty blues of Roving Blade is a perfect example of this, even if it does name check Grosvenor Square and the Norfolk Broads.
It feels tense and dangerous in places, with an urgency to let off steam as in Ashes To Earth or Blood And Custard. In Ten Thousand More To Ride, the solo leaps out and pins you down, demanding you listen, not in a whiny attention-seeking way, more like an acceptance that this is damn fine quality and you would be a fool to do anything other than surrender to it.
There are some folky influences here, too. But do not expect anything like Nick Drake, Mirador are folky in the way that CSNY and Wishbone Ash – and yes, Led Zeppelin too – were, bringing a touch of the ancient storytelling into a thoroughly hard-rocking setting.
In another change of pace, Must I Go Bound has an ethereal acoustic guitar and a searingly gorgeous tune, as does the beginning of Skyway Drifter with its old English melody line.
This is music for hot nights and cool days. Mirador is a mood for sure, and a feel good one at that.
The self-titled debut from Mirador is out now via Republic Records. For more details, visit mirador.lnk.to/MIRADOR. For tour tickets, visit mirador.lnk.to/tourdates.
Mirador are currently on tour and recently expanded their headlining US tour to 31-dates due to popular demand.
Tickets for all initial dates sold out immediately upon going on sale, and a second run of dates in larger venues were added in Nashville, NYC, and LA, and new dates have been announced in New Orleans, Boston, Austin, Portland and more.
The UK leg kicks off in Bristol on 9 November.
