Soul to Sun album review – Eamonn O’Neal

Lol Cooper Band – Album Review of Soul to Sun by Eamonn O’Neal, Journalist and BBC Radio Presenter

Imagine the spirit of Stockport, the dream visions of Chaucer and the imagination of Game of Thrones encasing spectacular music and video production, and you start to get close to Soul to Sun.

The Lol Cooper Band pulls no punches with the latest release. And why would it when Lol Cooper himself has been at the forefront of creating innovative multi-media content for almost half a century?

Soul To Sun is presented to us in a way that attacks all of our senses. Those of us who have longed for a return to the days when album covers and sleeve notes were as important as the music, will be blown away by the audacity and quality of what’s on offer here.

The Lol Cooper Band’s USP is Poetry Rock, a genre they have created and dominate. Their music is powerful and breath taking.  Their words are wonderfully esoteric and incisive. The stills and moving images that form a huge part of this project almost defy description.

Lol Cooper himself has been at the sharp end of production for more than four decades. His Cavalier Studio is legendary and thank God he has now found time to record his own music. 

Soul To Sun is a collaboration with some of the UK’s finest musicians, vocalists and storytellers, with a healthy helping of the Manchester Symphony Orchestra. The graphic design, lighting design, visual interpretation, photography and videography  all contribute hugely to this unique experience.

In the track White Nancy, using  words Geoffrey Chaucer would be proud of, Lol Cooper’s incantation encourages us to immerse ourselves into the sumptuous Soul To Sun – and so we should.

‘Come with me unto this magic tree

And share the chemistry – the alchemy

Disappear into this magic place…’