White Collar Rebel – “BELLADONNA” | Single Review
White Collar Rebel return with “BELLADONNA”, combining driving alt-rock guitars, huge drums and sharper songwriting. Reviewed by Sam Heppenstall.
Originally written about the frontman and his love for Stevie Nicks – “BELLADONNA” by White Collar Rebel toes the line between the dark, mysterious edge of Stevie’s lyricism and their own alt rock high-intensity sound.
Based out of Washington, the band formed back in 2017 and developed a decent following on the local circuit, but like many, were forced to take a break during the lockdowns in 2020. Two years ago though, they were reunited and haven’t really looked back. This is their fourth release since their reunion. With “Beware of the Sugarman” being a three song release all in one.
Whist “BELLADONNA” seems to copy the typical WCR blueprint of massive drums and driving guitars, it’s lyrically a lot sharper than previous releases such as “March into the sun” and “Valentine” – these songs seem to rely heavily on the instrumentation and the frontman’s impressive singing voice. It’s nice to see this kind of development in the local scene as it shows growth and a wider scope of understanding of the various nuances of songwriting.
I know it’s got nothing to do with the actual music, but I really like the artwork as well. I like to see a band take seemingly insignificant things like their artwork seriously.
Review by Sam Heppenstall for SoundBite North East
