On April 8, 2022, the debut album of "Envy Of None" was released.
We are talking about guitarist Alex Lifeson's project and no, it does not at all sound like "Rush", but there is a small tribute to a great drummer and friend Neil Peart.
In June 2021 Alex Lifeson surprised the music world with his odd choice to release two bizarre instrumental pieces on his website.
We know Alex well, he's one of the most versatile guitarists we know. He challenged himself and examined us in a variety of genres musical styles, over 40 years and more of his musical career. Hard rock and Metal, Progressive and New wave, Reggae, Ska and more. However, his choice to release the Kabul Blues/Spy House tracks after almost a decade of silence since the last "Rush" album, was not understood by us. Next to it, even the album "Victor" which he released in the mid 90's felt like "Safe grounds".
It turns out that this was not Alex's last experience. He focused on a new project that, no matter how well you know his repertoire, will still be able to shatter any prediction you have of what it's sounds like.
We're talking about the Cndian-American Supergroup "Envy Of None", which includes his collaboration with "Coney Hatch" bassist Andy Curran, singer Maiah Wynne and producer and multi-instrumentalist Alfio Annibalini.
The project came about when Andy Curran, who participated in the recording of Alex's two instrumentals in June 2021, began working on new music with singer Maiah Wynne. This caught the attention of Lifeson who asked Andy to listen to the material. Andy encouraged Lifeson to contribute guitar parts, if any of the material interested him. Alex played one part, which soon became two and three, until finally Alex participated in each of the eleven songs of the album and became part of the band.
On January 12, 2022 the band released their first single "Liar", with its industrial sound and atmospheric guitars, which sound to us like a combination between "Depeche Mode" to "Nine Inch Nails".
On March 2, 2022, the band released a second single, "Look Inside" and about a week later a music video was also released. Also in this case, it is a combination of atmospheric music together with industrial.
The third single "Never Said I Love You" already reminded us here and there of "Garbage" with industrial rhythms, fuzz bass and atmospheric guitars from Lifeson, that create a seductive whirlwind of music. Alex said Maiah became his muse. He said after hearing her sing "Never Said I Love You", he felt so moved and noted that he had never been so inspired working with another musician.
The album which includes 11 tracks, combines different styles of music such as Alternative Rock, Industrial, Experimental Rock and Synth-Pop, the last of which "Western Sunset" is an instrumental piece dedicated to Alex's good friend, drummer Neil Peart who passed away in 2020 after a violent battle with brain cancer. Alex composed the song at Neil Peart's house in Santa Monica, shortly before the drummer's death.
Alex referred to the song by saying::
"I visited Neil when he was ill. I was on his balcony watching the sunset and found inspiration. There’s a finality about a sunset that kinda stayed with me throughout the whole process. It had meaning. It was the perfect mood to decompress after all these different textures… a nice way to close the book."
Song List:
1."Never Said I Love You" 2. "Shadow" 3. "Look Inside" 4. "Liar" 5. "Spy House" 6. "Dog`s Life" 7. "Kabul Blues" 8. "Old Strings" 9. "Dumb" 10. "Enemy" 11. "Western Sunset"
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music