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Former Hackett Band member feat. keyboards, engineering and co-production of Nick Magnus and Roger King, plus special guests including Steve Hackett!
After a musical career spanning over three decades (and known latterly for her musical involvement with Steve Hackett), singer/songwriter/guitarist Amanda Lehmann releases her debut solo album!
With the lyrics and music self-composed, Amanda is a gifted and talented songwriter in her own right.
An outstanding lead guitarist, she also has a truly lovely voice, and when coupled with the sounds of the two maestros of the keyboards: Nick Magnus and Roger King, then complement all that with the studious engineering and co-production skills of Nick Magnus, then this album takes on the feel of a real epic!
‘Innocence And Illusion’ features several guest players including special guest appearances from Steve Hackett and other musicians who have worked past and present alongside the ex-GENESIS guitarist.
The album’s 9 songs incorporate a fusion of Progressive-Rock, Rock and Ethereal Fantasy Ballads, with some elements of Jazz-Blues along the way, taking us on a journey through magical childhood worlds and hard-edged realities; emotionally touching us at every turn.
Ranging from wistful and ethereal through to warm Bluesy/Rock tones and choir-like pure notes, Amanda’s haunting intertwining lead and multi-layered vocals weave a magical spell throughout ‘Innocence And Illusion’.
Amanda’s trademark red guitars feature regularly within thematic lead lines, crunching power chords and delicately picked arpeggios, alongside more gentle acoustic treatments.
As well as Amanda’s own keyboard and piano compositions appearing on several of the songs on ‘Innocence And Illusion’, Nick Magnus brings a wealth of inspired, majestic performances to the pieces with sweeping keyboard orchestral arrangements - such as the enchanting flying sequence instrumental in ‘Tinkerbell’, swooping synth solos (‘Who Are The Heroes?’), hard driving Hammond runs, dynamic rhythms and there’s plenty of haunting Mellotron throughout.
Roger King adds a beautiful string arrangement to ‘Memory Lane’ and a funky jazz band feel to ‘Only Happy When It Rains’, along with lilting sax solos from Rob Townsend on two tracks.
Amanda and Steve Hackett go into twin guitar mode on ‘Forever Days’ with some stellar lead work from Steve. Steve also brings the elegance of his nylon guitar into play on ‘Where The Small Things Go’ and bluesy harmonica on ‘Only Happy When It Rains’.
While the artist links quoted here will undoubtedly lead many to purchase this album, if the truth were to be told, this record is strong enough and more than worthy of attention without having any prior knowledge of who is playing on it! Amanda’s superb songwriting and vocal performance skills on ‘Innocence And Illusion’ leads us through a range of styles and genres, delivering top-quality music … Stunning melodies with big hooks, magical atmospheres, infectious chorus’s and meaningful lyrics … add the playing, engineering and co-production skills of none other than Nick Magnus and you get an effect similar to a terrific pairing such as Jon & Vangelis, where together two mega-talents of their own fields collaborate to create that rare thing ... a piece of blissful cross-genre music magic.
Now, Prog purists should now be aware that ‘Innocence And Illusion’ is not just an album of pure Prog from start to finish… sure, all of that is in there, but over and above all that it’s an amazing songwriter’s album delivering an amalgam of top-notch songs derived from other genres that have stains of a Progressive influence running through them, but all are arranged with the sounds of pure Prog delivered by talents of A-list Prog players!
A heartfelt STEVE HACKETT quote:
‘Innocence And Illusion’ is set to take the year’s music honours by storm. I believe she is the new British talent with a range of expression rarely heard on a debut album. You’d have to cast your mind back many years to find such a rich seam of ideas mined on one record. There’s an actor’s approach to character exploration from child to woman and back again, where Amanda is the ringmaster of her own fantasies with much to say about the human condition, adding a hint of chanson to the power of rock and a touch of magic realism. We’re discovering a true musical chameleon. It’s been a pleasure to play on one or two tracks along with input from several gifted pals to fully inflate her sails, but the golden ship itself belongs to Amanda alone. With production icons Nick Magnus and Roger King at the helm, who knows where Amanda’s creative travels may take us in the future”.
Some info and historical details on AMANDA LEHMANN:
Amanda’s career has incorporated thousands of live shows, performing extensively around the UK with her own band in the 80s and 90s and latterly touring with Steve Hackett between 2009 and 2013.
She has previously released a solo EP entitled ‘Shadow’ in 2010, and a duo album: ‘Wazzoon’ in 1994 (remastered in 2021), which are available for download.
Amanda’s voice sounds a little like Kate Bush in places, and interestingly she sites Kate among her main influences, alongside: Stevie Nicks, Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Pat Benatar and Alison Moyet.
We would also add in little Maggie Riley (of Mike Oldfield's 'Moonlight Shadow’) and perhaps a touch of Enya into the mix.
“I am incredibly proud of this album”, Amanda comments; “there is a wide variety of music, all weaving around the central thread of life’s journey; the twists and turns and all the stops along the way, the innocence, the illusions, the hopes and dreams, reflecting on what is, what was, what could be.
These songs have been bursting to be heard, and I hope that they speak to everyone who listens to them.”
The fine details…
Packaging…
‘Innocence And Illusion’ comes in a 6-Panel Digi-File Card Sleeve with Booklet.
Musicians etc…
Amanda Lehmann (vocals / guitars on tracks 1 - 8 / keyboards & piano on tracks 1, 4, 6, 7 & 8)
Nick Magnus (Steve Hackett band, CHINA CRISIS, RENAISSANCE, James Warren – The KORGIS / STACKRIDGE & Claire Hamill - keyboards / piano on tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 & 8)
Roger King (Gary Moore, SQUACKETT, Steve Hackett & Peter Andre - keyboards on tracks (3 & 5).
Special gusts: Steve Hackett (GENESIS, GTR, SQUACKETT - guitars on tracks 6 & 9 / harmonica on track 3), Rob Townsend (James Taylor - James Taylor Quartet, Bill Bruford & Steve Hackett band - alto sax on tracks 3 & 5) and Paul Johnson (backing vocal on track 4).
All songs on ‘Innocence And Illusion’ were written and composed by Amanda Lehmann (except ‘Where The Small Things Go’ – Lehmann / Hackett)
Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8 & 9 were all engineered and mixed by Nick Magnus and were produced by Amanda Lehmann with Nick Magnus Tracks 3 & 5 were engineered and mixed by Roger King and produced by Amanda Lehmann with Roger King.
All tracks mastered by Nick Magnus
Artwork by Des Walsh Illustrations
Photography by Kevin Lunham, Lee Millward & Dave Abbott
‘Innocence And Illusion’ is released 20th August 2021.
AMANDA LEHMANN: INNOCENCE & ILLUSION Track List:
01. Who Are The Heroes? (6:58)
02. Tinkerbell (5:59)
03. Only Happy When It Rains (3:47)
04. The Watcher (7:20)
05. Memory Lane (4:52)
06. Forever Days (5:25)
07. We Are One (4:56)
08. Childhood Delusions (4:50)
09. Where The Small Things Go (1:42)
TPT – 45:49