Review | FM – Brotherhood

Frontiers Music srl

FM has been a constant factor for many years and is still going strong. ‘Brotherhood’ is studio-album number fifteen on which the group around singer Steve Overland delivers some more of their melodic rock with AOR- and blues-influences. The crazy thing is that since their first album ‘Indiscreet’ (1986) and despite several line-up changes and a hiatus the group never ever delivered a failure. There has always been this pure consistency which can be partly ‘blamed’ to their steady line-up. Next to Overland, bass player Merv Goldsworthy and drummer Pete Jupp have been founding members while guitarist Jim Kirkpatrick and keyboardist Jem Davis have been around for many years. Maybe that is one of the reasons their new record has been titled ‘Brotherhood’, to extra accentuate that FM is a strong and bonded bunch of musicians who are still hungry and ambitious.

NO MAJOR CHANGE OF STYLE

It is safe to say that on ‘Brotherhood’ FM does not present a major change of style. I would say that this record is a combination of their two last records ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ and ‘Thirteen’. The band balances right in between these two records, sounding still fresh, focussed, and energetic. The first two tracks (,,Do You Mean It’’ and ,,Living On The Run’’) can be described as energetic and reasonably fast paced. The same goes for the rocker ,,Living On The Wrong Side’’ with excellent vocals by Overland and a piercing guitar solo by Kirkpatrick, turning out to be one of the highlights of ‘Brotherhood’. But the absolute top track is for me the long and sensitive ballad ,,Just Walk Away’’, where Overland finds the right emotion in his performance to really lift this track up into the highest regions.

FM – THE CONCLUSION

I am not saying that FM on ‘Brotherhood’ has re-invented themselves. The thing is that these guys know exactly what their strong points are and they act accordingly. Lush keys, groovy guitars plus very solid drums and bass parts from which Steve Overland can lay down his still incredibly well timed vocal parts. I don’t know why or how, but father time has not been able to damage or limit his vocal capacity. There might be people stating that FM is starting to repeat things but if you (after all these years) still manage to bring quality songs, a strong production, and very commendable individual contributions to the table, as is the case on ‘Brotherhood’, then there still should be space and warm thoughts for this long-lasting group of musicians.

Release date: 5 September 2025