Reece Mastin - Heartache Blues

Australia's Reece Mastin, now an independent artist, released his new album earlier this month. It took me awhile to finally get around to listening to it, but Reece has never steered me wrong before so it definitely remained on my list. Having given the album a spin this weekend, it's a solid collection of the kind of straight-ahead rock music that we don't hear nearly enough of these days. The song that stood out most to me on first listen was Heartache Blues. Honestly, I'm not a fan of the blues genre in general, so the title itself didn't necessarily draw me in. But, the sound is much more feel-good 80's-tinged rock than I'd expected. It's totally the type of drive-around-with-the-top-down song that tends to fit well with the summer. The lack of a truly impactful chorus lets it down just a bit, but the verses are incredible. It sounds a lot of something that would've been on Brandon Flowers' current (excellent) album.