The
album has been carefully produced by John Greatwood (VEGA) and Vega
ivory-tinkler and hubby, James Martin. Sessions started in early 2013 with a
bunch of songs ISSA had co-written or demoed in the Martin Brothers song-writing
sessions.
ISSA says: “After 5 years of working together with Tom and James, we had come
up with a collection of songs I had to keep for myself.'' One song in
particular sees ISSA teaming up with FM vocalist Steve Overland on the dramatic
ballad ''Raintown”. In is a definite highlight of her career so far.
ISSA says ''This was a dream come true for me, Steve Overland is probably my
favourite male singer and to get him on board was a true honour, his voice
suits the song perfectly, wait till you hear this one!!”
Other guest musicians stepped up when asked upon to perform solo's include
Daniel Palmqvist (XORIGIN), Alessandro Del Vecchio (HARDLINE), Steve Newman
(NEWMAN), Robert Sall (WORK OF ART), Daniel Johansson (DEGREED), Stephen
Chesney. As well as powerhouse choir including Pete Newdeck (IN FAITH/TAINTED
NATION), Matt Black (FAHRAN) and Michael Kew (VEGA).
If
songs with more than a bit of spit and polish applied are your sort of thing
then Crossfire will be right up your street. ‘Crossfire’ is a powerful punch
pop rock number that will get the feet, and head going immediately. ‘New
Horizon’ shows how much of an influence James Martin has with the songs as they
keys run right thru this one like a sick of rock, and some nice layered backing
vocals. ‘Raintown’ is definitely THE song of Crossfire. A duet with FMs Steve
Overland, he instantly puts his calling card on this one with his trademark ‘whooo-hoooo’
(pat.pending!). It really is a cracking duet as the complement each other
perfectly, for what will be a ballad that will be hard to beat this year. That
said Nigel Bailey gave this song some welly at the recent ARFM charity gig and
gave Mr O a run for his money. It’s a 80’s influenced song with touches of
Robin Beck thrown in for good measure.
Despite
the proclamation of holding on to songs written the past few years, I’m still
not sure that theres enough instant moments on Crossfire especially when
compared to the likes of ‘Im Alive’ and ‘Angel's Crying‘ from the debut. ‘Long Time Coming'
has a very catchy chorus. Ms Beck is dialled in again for ‘Fight Fire With Rain’
and once again shows where Issa’s strength as a singer lies. When she holds
back a bit is where the true magic comes alive. ‘Heartbeat’ is a bit more
rockier and is the opposite of 'Fight Fire…' and oozes class.
There’s
a good 4 or 5 songs here that are top quality tunes and will remain fixed on my
phone for some time (Crossfire, Heartbeat, Raintown, Fight Fire With Rain), but
the remainder seem to be more ‘by the numbers’ so to speak. It’s not a poor
album by any means, its well produced, but doesn’t necessarily hold your
attention. But, (never start your sentence with a ‘but’) if you love your
female rock singers like Wilson, Beck, Aaron, Matty etc and an 80s influenced
sound, then there’s a lot to enjoy from Crossfire
Score
70/100
Tracklisting -
Crossfire
New Horizon
Raintown
Long Time Coming
Fight Fire With Rain
Heartbeat
Electric Lights
Ghost Inside My Heart
Red Lights
We Rise
Only You