Jac Dalton - Powderkeg

Most of the stuff that comes from down under seems to have a certain quality. I suppose them Aussies are too far away on the other side of the world to really absorb all the trends that seem to be dragging their American counterparts by the nose, so Australian rockers mostly seem to try to perfectly execute, old and tried concepts.
 
Jac Dalton however is an American who was born and raised in North Carolina, but he’s for a long time called Adelaide his home and thus, this has rubbed off on him. With a couple of albums under his belt that seemed to blend classic rock, with soulful background choirs, a little bit of southern charm and a lot of uplifting sentiments and an overall feel-good factor, “Powderkeg”, his third effort, seems to hit the sweetspot, distilling all that in some pretty awesome performances with soaring yet soulful vocals, nice harmonies and a spirit that you just cannot put down…
 
There’s hardly a song, in this ten song effort that I didn’t like, and some of them immediately grabbed me, like the opening trio of “Powderkeg”, “2 Blow Me Away” and “Roll with the Punches” that’s only followed by a tastefully organic cover of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion”… that however stays quite true to the original, but is done Aussie style, really easy-going. Also “One Heart, One Land” and “When I’m Alone with You” get a bit more slow and sensual in different ways, but that offers just variety and still doesn’t change the fact that the key that makes “Powderkeg” so effective is its top of the line songwriting…
 
Really enjoyed this album and I have no trouble recommending it to you, if you like the description…