A triple threat, Ginny Luke can steal the spotlight of the toughest crowd with her roaring vocal range, dynamic electric violin and piano skills, and spellbound showmanship. A recording artist who has worked and performed for many mainstream names, she is not someone easy to overlook. Outside of being a world-class performer, she earned her classical training at Musician’s Institute, and California Institute of the Arts, proving educated along with hard-working and talented. Not bad for a small-town girl from Iowa, right?
Her most recent release, a fifteen-track album titled Devil At My Heels was issued in early November and features appearances from artists such as Orianthi and Nili Brosh.
“Long Live Rock and Roll” kickstarts the album with a seventeen second electrifying intro that takes us into the first full length song, the title track, “Devil at My Heels.”
Luke’s wailing takes the reigns in “Devil at My Heels,” a hard rock song with a bluesy rhythm pulsing in distortion. It’s full of sin and heavy melodies which coarse through your veins like opiates for your ears, as any good rock song should do. When she breaks out the violin, that energy intensifies threefold.
“Other Side,” focuses on the bass drumbeat, while the hypnotic vocals lure you in with their powerful, breathy spell. Luke masterfully goes from airy, ethereal tones to low growls that command a room, a rock and roll ringmaster. “Other Side” with its sexual tension and boot-stomping beats is reminiscent of another powerful female-rage artist, In This Moment.
Speaking of sexual tension, “Yeah Yeah Yeah” kicks in with a rapid riff and low bass tones that allow the lyrics to hit you in the face. Bratty, venomous, and raging with attitude and a good ol’ fashioned guitar solo, “Yeah Yeah Yeah” is a worthy bedroom dance bop.
Breathy and vulnerable, “Save Me” comes in as track five. Brewing with desire and a desperate hunger to be consumed by another, “Save Me” does away with the heavier elements and turns listeners onto a more haunting, melodic alternative-rock style rhythm.
Back to rocking and rolling, “Burn” cuts through with a thrash-metal riff. Furious drumming and fast-paced beats set the tone against Luke’s powerful roars. To top off this legendary, full-band song, a glam-metal guitar solo takes control for a whole minute. There’s nothing complicated about “Burn,” however, all the elements mesh together to create something rather epic and bold, rock theater at its finest.
“Woman I Wanted to Be,” takes a slower approach but no less commanding than what we’ve heard in previous tracks. The sentiment is one of regret and longing, longing for a version of yourself you couldn’t live up to, for a dream you just couldn’t grasp. The strings summarize these feelings, materializing them into the power ballad symphony, gritty, dark and deep all at once. There’s even an interlude following this track where the strings take full spotlight.
Rough and pumped full of riotous energy, “Do You Close Your Eyes,” brings us to a stadium-heavy beat. It’s a lustful shot of caffeine, a break away from the ballad we just came from. Traditional rhythms and a classic solo give this song that satisfactory hard rock vibe to shake along to.
“No Fire Burning,” trails in next, and might be the most different of the tracks on this album. Mellow and steady, a melancholy drive and solemn vocals against a soft, radio pop-rock beat, the narrative of “No Fire Burning,” is a devasting one, yet it keeps us on that strange line between a rock ballad and an alt-pop song, leading us into the hypnotic and hip “Nothing Less.”
“Dark Angel Interlude,” is the last interlude of the album, a moving serenade of strings and keys, soulful and soothing, evoking strong feelings within to pave way to “Dark Angel.”
“Dark Angel,” drags you further away from the rock concert stadium-ambience and into a whimsical, haunting escape. Theatrical, melancholy, a cry from a far away place, “Dark Angel” is bursting with passionate storytelling. It’s a rise from the darkness, succumbing to your own power and with the soundtrack of the strings’ haunting melody coursing the way. While the other instrumentals come into play nearing the second half of the song, it’s the violin and piano that really have the reigns here.
We end the album on a distorted, garage-style cover of Badfinger’s “No Matter What.” Slowed down, and keeping in style of Luke’s haunting essence, this dreamy cover is dirty, heavy, and soothing all at once.
Devil At My Heels creates its own ambience, an album that’s difficult to place into any one genre. It strikes as a hard rock record yet has its moments of dreamy theatrics, and alternative pop beats. It caters to those who like a little bit of everything, revealing that while Ginny Luke may be a fine rock musician, she doesn’t confine herself into any one box, and her vision and skills exceed any stereotype.
I’m Music Magazine Writer Alice Kearney
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