Patrik Jansson Band – Different Shades Of Blue
Sneaky Foot Records – 2026
8 tracks; 39 minutes
Sweden’s Patrik Jansson is a guitarist and vocalist whose first album came out in 2011. Since then he has released three more band albums, plus a solo effort recorded during Covid, so this is the fifth Patrick Jansson Band release. The album was recorded in Sweden and is all-original material, written by Patrick. The band is Patrick on vocals and guitar, Robin Hillgren on keys and B/V’s, Thomas Andersson on bass and Daniel Sohlberg on drums; Jesper Larsson adds harp to one track and a horn section is added to three tracks, Stephen Spenser (sax), Erik Forsberg (trumpet) and Yahlmar Olofsson-Tuisku (trombone).
The album opens with an instrumental entitled “What’s Up?”, the band immediately hitting a swinging groove led by Patrick’s fluent guitar and offering solo opportunities also to the horns, a fine start to the album. Patrick has already shown his guitar chops on that opener and continues to show his instrumental abilities on the remaining tracks. Patrick also sings clearly, just a very slight trace of an accent on the vocal cuts here. “Gold Digger” is funky, a song about a woman whose aim is clearly to go where the money might be, leaving poor Patrick behind, while “Keep Me Satisfied” is a shuffle driven by drummer Daniel and featuring a nicely varied solo from Patrick. “Know Where To Go” slows things down as Patrick offers advice on how to proceed in life: “It’s never easy making up your mind and leaving it all behind, but you can make it if you try, just follow your heart, you’ll be fine”. The horns add discreet accents to the chorus and Patrick takes a spiraling solo as the outro fades away. “Love Is A Gamble” is a slow blues with wistful lyrics: “Some say love is a gamble, I don’t know if that’s true, but it seems like every time I play the game I lose”.
With a title very close to the Dolly Parton hit, one might think that “Joline” would be in country territory, but in fact it’s an uptempo piece of Rn’B with harp and horns beefing up the tune, making it hard to resist nodding along to the rhythm. “Love And War” opens with some lovely guitar, introducing another slow ballad with reflective lyrics about a lost lover, though Patrick recognizes that he is not blameless in the break-up: “I’m not the easiest, I put my pleasures first, I know that’s been tough on you”. To close the album Patrick delivers another change of pace and style, “Lullaby For Deci” being what the title suggests, a quiet and delicate instrumental with the guitar supported by a warm organ wash.
Overall a good set with a fair level of variety. The songwriting and playing throughout is strong, an album with wide appeal.
