Casey Maunder - Smash Down Jericho
(S/R - 2026)

Having never listened to Casey before I came into this very much open minded and had no expectation. I have to say I was extremely pleasantly surprised by his voice. This Welsh Rocker has a fantastic Rock voice! So on to a good start.
His writing and song structure has a familiar feeling to it. Like songs from my yesteryears. That isn't a criticism, but definitely a compliment. This familiarity makes me want to listen. 'Ellie' is a fantastic singalong song (it needs a radio edit so I can play it in the car with my kids on the school run).
I found myself singing along when cleaning. It is a massive ear worm. It's such an uplifting sounding song, only when you actually listen to the lyrics you find so much depth with a serious theme of a child living in a nightmare. A great song, extremely well written.
'Under One Sky' is another singalong ear worm. I'm now blitzing my house work with this on full blast. Then there's beautiful ballads by means of 'The Way You Make My World Go Round' and 'CJ'.
'Paint' is the first song released on socials and is a great introduction to the album but not the best song on the album: that title goes to 'Ellie'. The music on this album is excellent with really good guitar solos to be found like in 'Fireworks Burn Brightest At Night'.
With a classy rock finish in 'Now That The Titans Have Gone", I am sure we can all think of the titans that have gone from our musical journey. Like more recently Ozzy and the one I can't seem to get over: Meatloaf.
All the songs including the ballads have got one thing in common. You can sing along to them. They are very catchy, extremely easy to listen to and dance along. Only when you listen, actually listen to the words then the album really opens up with some deep topics with music made to enrich your soul.
An exceptionally good album.
By Dale Holford
