Is it possible to imagine a year without a new Joe Bonamassa album? The answer is no, and so much the better because the Utica native persists in maintaining each of his releases at a high level. After the cathartic "Redemption" and the lighter "Royal Tea", here comes "Time Clocks" with its beautiful cover signed by Hugh Syme (Rush, Whitesnake, Dream Theater...). This opus was originally planned to be recorded as a trio, but under the guidance of Kevin Shirley on production and Bob Clearmountain on mixing, it finally turned into a monumental and adventurous work.
Monumental because of the format of most of its tracks, often exceeding six minutes and allowing the development of real epic pieces playing on contrasts and variations. Tortured by questions about the passing of time and the fragility of human relationships, Joe Bonamassa translates here his anguish and even his anger. Co-written with Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke), Bernie Marsden (ex-Whitesnake) or the country music stars James Horse and Tom Hambridge, all the tracks show a bewitching depth and an unstoppable efficiency, relying most of the time on catchy and hypnotic riffs ('Notches', 'Time Clocks'). The summits are reached on a zeppelinian 'Curtain Call' with a haunting melody and orientalizing strings letting hover perfumes of 'Kashmir' for a powerful and majestic result.
Adventurous, because the artist does not hesitate to move away from his comfort zone by making himself more rock than blues, passing from a muscular and angry 'Notches' to the southern fragrances and to the cinematic atmosphere to a groovy and disillusioned 'The Heart That Never Waits' without losing coherence. He jumps from a painful 'Questions And Answers' alternating angry questions and mocking answers to a melancholic and blinding 'Mind's Eyes' without lowering the emotional intensity of his compositions. He crosses the border between a captivating 'The Loyal Kind' playing on the contrast between tensions and releases and a refreshing breath on 'Hanging On A Loser' with a New Orleans atmosphere without loosening the embrace in which he holds the listener captive. And as if to confirm the cinematic atmosphere of the whole, 'Known Unknows' serves as a slow and melodic end credit, translating a form of acceptance and resilience and calming down on a long luminous final solo letting the hero slowly move away towards the horizon reddened by a setting sun.
A new disillusionment for those who are waiting with impatience for the first misstep of the American, "Time Clocks" confirms him on the contrary at the top of the pantheon of the genre. Tormented and monumental, this opus is a new paving stone to be put to the credit of an artist who accumulates them while being able to question himself by never fearing to expose his doubts and his existential questions.