FIRETHIEF: Millions of Strangers

By Bing Turkby

Like many other passionate Kiwi musicians, the members of Firethief get through the working day to pay the bills, then let their creativity loose at night. Patrice Harrex’s soulful rock vocals are well complemented by the backing of Allan Robertson and Rob Tate. Album opener Wolf in Flight is a hair-rock ballad in the vein of 4 Non-Blondes, but the rest of the album is more in the acoustic rock vein, with some very tasteful guitar parts. More Led Zep III than IV, if you see what I mean. Starting with jangly fingerpicked guitar, the first song builds in just the right way, adding Harrex’s vocals, then a rocking rhythm section before eventually fading wistfully away again. Drummer John Weir features on this and on the last track, nicely bookending the album with a more driven feel. Tate drops in some swirling Wurlitzer sounds in the uplifting Sunny Day, with Harrex soaring above the bed of backing vocals. There are some well-composed guitar solos, and the sounds are well balanced, background keyboard adding to the ambience without becoming too cheesy. Firethief can be justifiably proud of this disc, and it might even propel them out of day-jobdom into the heady realm of professional musicianship.

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NZ Musician

October/November 2009