Built around the undoubted talents of Austrian vocalist Manou, multinational outfit Ivy Gold purvey a slowhanded, bluesy brand of soft rock with funk and Gospel overtones. Obviously, this isn’t the usual kind of stuff we throw the spotlight on at Sentinel Daily; There is, however, a ferrous link thanks to the presence of guitarist Sebastian Eder, who, the more alert amongst you will remember, used to ply his trade with German progressive metallers Avalon…

There isn’t any metal to be found on Broken Silence, but Eder acquits himself magnificently throughout with his laidback soloing style that really grabs the ear despite the apparent insouciance of it’s progenitor. He makes every note count, and on tracks like standout cut Six Times Gone we works superbly in tandem with vocalist Manou.

Manou has a pleasantly vibrant style, pitched somewhere below MOR Titans like Celine Dion or Anastacia in terms of bombast but with every inch of the style. On the slow burning Sacred Heart, backed by a gospel choir and with Eder supplying more tasteful licks, she comes into her own in pwerful style.

The rest of the band are no slouches, either; Joe Bonamassa drummer Tal Bergman anchors proceedings, and he and rhythm partner Kevin Moore (interestingly, whilst we’re talking about soft rock divas, a veteran of Jennifer Rush‘s band) come into their own on the funkier numbers, adding some deft slink to proceedings.  Keyboardist Anders Olinder – you may know him from his work with Glenn Hughes -adds colour and texture with the whole result being easy-on-the-ear strutters like Drifting, where the band create an impressive, fullsome and very satisfying sound in support of their vocal leader.

It would be easy to write Broken Silence off as turgid, production-line nonsense – music for people who know nothing about music – but there is a real spark here, a chemistry between the band members that means that, however mainstream the music may sound superficially, there’s real substance to tracks like Broken Wings of Hope. The sound of professionals doing what they do well is always a pleasant one, and there is an awful lot of that sound to be found on Broken Silence. Introduce it to your friends at your next social gathering – you won’t be sorry!

Broken Silence releases on May 26th.