Review ROSS JENNINGS ‘A Shadow of my Future Self’

Ross Jennings is a familiar name for fans of progressive rock and metal music. The singer is enriching Haken’s music with his outstanding vocals since 2007 and is one important factor when it comes to the successful story of the London-based prog enthusiasts.

In parallel, Jennings wrote songs for his solo debut which carries the title of ‘A Shadow of my Future Self’. Jennings’ album consists of a 14 song tracklist that delivers 78 minutes of well—crafted rock music. These tunes are less complex compared with the songs from the mothership. And they laser in on rock more than on metal. It doesn’t take a lot of time to dive into the soundscapes Jennings creates on his album. What becomes obvious in the first half of this record is the richness of genres that are reflected in each of the songs.

‘Rocket Science’ is built on the big days of AOR and has the charm of a great Boston song. The upbeat ‘Violet’ is another song that shows an exciting diversity. The heavy riff in the beginning sounds great and is a red herring at the same time. There are some more of these harder moments while the song in general is a funky rock song that allows a dance move if you want. Another song from the top half of the track listing is the acoustic opener ‘Better Times’. Instead of putting a strong punch into pole position, it is a gently swinging tune that kicks off the album. By mentioning these songs, you can see already the musical variations, this longplayer offers, all held together by Jennings extraordinary voice.

A song that comes further down the tracklist is ‘Phoenix’. With eleven minutes we can more talk about a composition, and it comes with a lot of emotions and feel. The song shows the musical talent and the ability to write longer tunes. From acoustic to rock, equipped with great melodies, ‘Phoenix’ can be looked at as being the masterpiece on ‘A Shadow of my Future Self’.

Jennings’ solo debut is a very personal album and that’s one factor why it sounds so good. Music transports emotions and in this case, we get a lot of Ross Jennings on such an authentic release. Lockdown and broken relationships, both having impacted the album with Jennings’ confronting himself with those. It’s almost a cathartic piece of work.

‘A Shadow of my Future Self’ is a stellar record. It features excellent music, great melodies and also carries a lot of emotions. This debut is authentic and real, something that makes ‘A Shadow of my Future Self’ stand out. Fans of well-done rock music shouldn’t miss this longplayer.