Australia has produced many great female fronted hard rock bands over the years – bands like The Superjesus, DEF FX and Beki + The Bullets spring straight to mind but now comes a band that has the potential to bigger and better than anything that has come before them. Lillye’s Evolve album is not just a great debut album… it is a freakin’ classic. Just one listen and you are not only hooked on the album but you know that Lillye are a band about to embark on a journey that will make them a household name worldwide.
The album kicks off with the sensational track ‘Run’ which not only showcases the amazing vocal talents of front-woman Virginia Lillye but clearly shows the bands creative side as the breathing from Virginia just adds to the frantic nature of the track. Her vocals again shine on ‘In The End’, her classical training is there to be seen in her powerful voice and grouped together with a track like ‘Chained’ and it not hard to see that she is one of the greatest female vocalists that this planet has ever produced.
What makes Evolve a truly great album is that you really do get something different on each track. ‘Brittle Glass’ is a great piece of brash rock which showcases the brilliant guitar work of Matt Ellis and proves that Lillye are a well-rounded band with a lot to show. Then there is the dark and forboding ‘Better Days’ that seems to channel Lee Aaron.
As you take a listen to Evolve it is hard to pinpoint exactly where to place Lillye when it comes to genre. Yes they are hard rock but tracks like ‘Fire’ and ‘It Is What It Was’ sore to the point where they reach a level normally reserved for symphonic metal outfits like Nightwish. Then there is the gruff sounds of ‘Take On Me’ which with its pounding drums becomes a track that Kittie would be proud of. In fact this is an album full of absolute gems – even smooth tracks like ‘Grass Is Greener’ and ‘Surrender’ quickly win you over while the album closes with an epic high – ‘Through My Soul.’
We’ve come to expect great albums being released through Eclipse but Lillye take that to a whole new level. Evolve is a classic album just waiting to be discovered and Lillye is a band that any true rock fan needs to know about.
