Between The Moment

George Thomas & Ya: ‘INBOUND’ A Timeless Rollercoaster Ride!
BY RICK JAMM ON JULY 23, 2013 IN REVIEWS

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Rating: 9.0/5 (289 votes cast)
George Thomas & Ya hail from Boston.  George and his band Ya, have written and recorded a prolific amount of material that has been likened to Roy Orbison singing withThe Moody Blues. The band has no less than 7 albums on Aurovine! The songs are a dynamic mix of acoustic and electric guitars, symphonic percussion and background singers. On the band’s latest album Inbound the songs range from the soul and RnB tingedAmazing, through to out and out rockers like Someone To Love.
The album is filled with wonderfully crafted and enjoyable songs and part of the beauty ofInbound is that it is so under-stated. It sounds like the band is having a total blast on these songs. I think that’s one of the reasons this music is so incredibly fun to listen to. It’s obvious that these guys just left their egos outside the doorway and set out to make great music and have a great time doing it; because this is exactly what transpires through the songs on offer here.
Due to George Thomas’ truly Roy Orbison-like voice, it’s very hard to escape from the retro rock n’ roll overtones that run throughout the album, no matter what genre the band tackle, and they do tackle a real load-full here!
However don’t be fooled into thinking that this has any negative effect on the music whatsoever, on the contrary it’s absolutely awe-inspiring to hear George’s ‘Orbison’ voice on a trendy urban-music track like, “Love Is All You Need To Know”. I for one was stopped in my tracks, and I think Roy and even Elvis Presley turned in their graves a couple of times too! George Thomas’ tender, deep and resonant style of singing, so reminiscent of the aforementioned two, perfectly contrasts the hip girlie-choruses under this sweltering and banging club beat. No doubt this song could easily be radio-ready hit material!
 
Skip to the next track, “Message In A Bottle”, and you’re really thrown into some authentic rock n’ roll nostalgia, even though the instrumentation remains totally contemporary in its sound.  The gift of George Thomas’ voice is that it can be both modern and a classic throwback to the past, in the blink of an eye.
If you are one of the lucky souls fortunate enough to get your dirty fingers on this album, then you are guaranteed a good time from the moment you place this in the player and hit “play”. “Amazing” sounds like it slipped off the Atlantic Records label during the 60’s, alongside such soul artists as Solomon Burke or Ben E King, while “Someone To Love”moves across the spectrum to the straight rock sound you would have expected from rockersSteppenwolf. In between George Thomas & Ya exchange licks and riffs with a bundle of genres, continually reassured and kept on track by George’s uniquely recognizable vocals.
From a song standpoint, this is one of the few albums where I don’t skip any songs at all. Each song is very well written, and the album flows seamlessly together from one song to the next. George Thomas & Ya is a pretty amazing group. Their talent goes without saying, and you’ll soon realize that the group really does sound like they are having a lot of fun while they’re working together. This is definitely an excellent album to purchase.


Between The Moment

YA / George Thomas