Solomon Cole - Ain't Got Time To Die

Album: Ain't Got Time To Die
Size: 73,6 MB
Time: 31:36
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Blues/Roots
Art: Front

1. Day Of Reckoning (3:47)
2. Get Up Get On (3:34)
3. Woman I Weep (2:40)
4. Bullet (4:47)
5. A Little South Of Heaven (4:44)
6. Ain't Got Time To Die (4:14)
7. Apocryphal Flood Blues (4:00)
8. Call My Maker (3:47)

A searing blend of Southern Gothic blues, gospel fire, and soul-drenched storytelling, Ain’t Got Time To Die is a cinematic and deeply emotive journey through love, loss, redemption, and resilience. Rooted in the raw beauty of his island home and infused with the spirit of the American South, Cole’s latest work transcends genre - equal parts sermon and storm. Within its brooding intensity and emotional depth, the album showcases Cole’s commanding vocal presence, gritty guitar work, and a sound that is at once timeless and fiercely original. “This album is about survival - spiritual, emotional, creative. It’s the blues as I’ve lived it”, says Cole.

Produced with a live, analogue sensibility that captures the fire of Cole’s stage performances, Ain’t Got Time To Die marks a new chapter for an artist long respected as one of New Zealand’s most unique and passionate voices in blues and soul music. Produced and mixed by Eddie Rayner (Split Enz, Crowded House) and native NZ engineer Nick Abbott, the record breaks dirt for Solomon and sets the tone for compelling solo work.

Personnel: Solomon Cole (vocals, guitar); Aaron Carpenter (harmonica); Nikki Ngatai, Meredith Wilkie (backing vocals).

Ain't Got Time To Die mc
Ain't Got Time To Die gofile

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The Solomon Cole Band - Bruises

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:00
Size: 112.2 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:55] 1. Ring Your Bell
[5:25] 2. Shiver
[4:28] 3. Crooked Ways
[5:42] 4. Bruises
[4:05] 5. Doors Of Perception
[4:42] 6. Lazy Boy
[4:00] 7. Little Sister
[4:48] 8. Fighting Fires
[3:58] 9. Sweet Ruby
[6:54] 10. Alimony

"BRUISES" the debut album makes Top 20 NZ Albums in its first week of release at number 19, and number 8 on Heat Seekers Fastest Rising Chart. A monumental achievement for the band.

Astonishing! For many years, much more than a decade, Elsewhere has written about how paint-stripping singers like Janis Joplin and more recently the stunning Beth Hart must scare the bejezzus out of all those bedroom-bound sleeve sucking young women songwriters whose best line seems to be a whine about having their wee heart broke. Well, welcome to the thunder-dome of hard rock guitars (Stevie Ray!), wall-shaking intensity and the nail-hard vocals of Sophia Fa'alogo (see Bonfire Baby below also). This is adult rock for men and women who like it turned up to 11, who have their meat more on the raw side (but with subtle seasoning) and who've dragged some interestingly dark pasts into their present survival. Music by and for adults then.

Facts: The Solomon Cole Band are out of Waiheke Island (and most definitely are not old slack arse hippies or the new vineyard-habitué rich) but have their souls embedded in brittle and sometime brutal Westie rock (“Yeah, up to 11, mate”) with Cole channeling Jim Morrison/Butler of Psychedelic Furs and Fa'alogo – a bit under-utilised given her astonishing firepower – pulling in Grace Slick/Janis/Merry Clayton et al. There's also the terrific, Stones-in-72 piano-rock'n'roll boogie on Doors of Perception (it feels like it's just a kiss away, a kiss away) and their original Little Sister, the downer-thump AC/DC, . . .

Can't think of another New Zealand band who could so persuasively sing, “Take the gasoline and pour it on the Limo” on the thrilling Fighting Fires. That's heroic . . . and the Solomon Cole band are all that . . . and more. Jon Spencer/Akadaka/Fat Possum blues/Big Brother . . . and more.Turn this up to eleventeen . . . and someone give that Fa'alogo gal her own album. Unleashed. ~Graham Reid

Bruises

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The Solomon Cole Band - Bruises

Size: 112,9 MB
Time: 49:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Ring Your Bell (4:55)
02. Shiver (5:26)
03. Crooked Ways (4:28)
04. Bruises (5:43)
05. Doors Of Perception (4:05)
06. Lazy Boy (4:43)
07. Little Sister (4:00)
08. Fighting Fires (4:46)
09. Sweet Ruby (3:58)
10. Alimony (6:54)

Bruises is a collection of explosive and exalted blues and dark, soaring soul-based songs landing somewhere between The Black Keys, Mark Lanegan and even Led Zeppelin.

Case in point is lead single ‘Ring Your Bell' - a driving blues track with an instantly engaging electric guitar riff. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics set the scene as the soul inflections of vocalist Sophia Faalogo seal the deal, invoking the likes of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, ZZ Top and Tina Turner.

In the past 18 months since their inception, the SCB have supported Martha Davis & The Motels, opened New Zealand Fashion Week 2015, headlined 2 nights at Okere Falls Beer Festival plus delivered many sold out nights at venues on Waiheke Island.

The brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Solomon Cole & bassist Lee Catlin, The Solomon Cole Band also includes soul vocalist Sophia Faalogo (The Reputations, Payola) & drummer Dione Denize.

The album was mixed by veteran NZ engineer Nick Abbott (Goldenhorse, The Datsuns, Crowded House) upon his return from LA. Nick states, "Bruises is a monument to a scene, a freedom and independence. Long may it continue."

Bruises

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