This album has been delayed awhil and finally gets released. The band name may not mean to you but the man behind Fluid Sol will, none other than Mitch Malloy. It’s not what you’d expect though as gone are the AOR delights of ’Shine’ and the singer/songwriter ‘Ceilings & Walls’. Fluid Sol is a harder rocking album and will surprise many Mitch Malloy fans, having more in common with Butch Walker or even Sum 41.

Pick of the album has to be ‘I am On Your Radio’ (a track premiered on his recent UK acoustic tour) that is the most melodic moment on here. ‘Shelter’ takes the tempo down and Be With You’ sees Mitch singing in a lower register and it sounds very different. Plenty of spiky lyrics and angry riffs around like ‘Just Human’ and ‘I Want You’ (possibly the heaviest song Mitch Malloy has ever recorded!).

As a long time Mitch Malloy fan it took a few plays to get into this album but it is worth it and will hopefully win him a whole new audience. Be very interesting to see where he goes from here - another Fluid Sol album or solo album? Sadly it seems that a full on AOR album is a thing of the past as the audience just isn’t there anymore.

***½

Review by Jason Ritchie

Band website

***** Out of this world | **** Pretty damn fine |
*** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan |
** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly