“[Road Trip’s] seductive marriage of raw electricity & mannish sophistication is a timeless celebration of amplified tone & dynamism.” 4/5 Mojo

“Eddy plays guitar the way Hemingway writes. These tunes sound ageless…” 4/5 Uncut

“’Road Trip’ fuses all the restorative power that you’d hope for from a comeback…along with a genuine sense of nostalgia.” 5/5, Artrocker

“[Road Trip] is a runaway success – sumptuous-sounding and perfectly pitched.” 4/5, Stool Pigeon

“These 11 instrumentals are all spanking new, infused with a melodic spaciousness that allows Eddy’s playing to shine through.” 7/10, Classic Rock

On June 20th, Mad Monkey Records – in conjunction with EMI – will release the new Duane Eddy album, Road Trip. 

Road Trip features 11 songs, recorded in 11 days at Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield, October 2010. The album was co-produced by long-time fan Richard Hawley – whom, along with members of his band, co-wrote a selection of the album’s songs with Eddy.

Eddy and Hawley met at last year’s Mojo Awards, where Eddy was awarded with the Mojo Icon Award. Hitting it off straight away, a plan was hatched whereby Hawley would work with Eddy on a new album – a dream come true for Hawley who’d wanted to work with his guitar hero for a long, long time, having been turned onto the wonders of his playing as a mere boy.

Roadtrip starts with a crazed-and-cantering guitar salvo. Then comes an unmistakable low-string, spy-theme twist – a twang, if you will – that announces the fantastically titled ‘The Attack Of The Duck Billed Platypus’, the opening track on the album. It is a track that serves as confirmation enough that one of the truly legendary guitarists of our time is back. Twenty five years after releasing his last record, Duane Eddy has returned to reclaim what is rightfully his…

In many ways, Road Trip showcases everything that is unique about Eddy’s guitar playing. When it rocks, it rocks hard (check out the aforementioned ‘Platypus’, the raunchy ‘Curveball’ or the juddering ‘Primeval’). But above all it is a record that is defined by the man’s elegant playing and the space within its sound. It also illustrates the breadth of Eddy’s stylistic acumen. ‘Twango’, for instance, nods to Duane’s past and echoes the man’s love of the great Django Reinhardt and of jazz guitar as a whole; ‘Bleaklow Air’ is a measured and theme-like atmospheric reflection on the Derbyshire moorland that gives the track its name, and features seductive single-note picking; the title of the beauteous ‘Kindness Ain’t Made Of Sand’ says a lot about Duane’s view of life while the lush nature of the music ripples with Hawley’s effortless classicism; ‘Franklin Town’ evokes the ghosts of battles long fought; the title track itself, meanwhile, is a languid country waltz. Put simply, all 11 tracks frame Eddy’s playing quite magnificently, something which Hawley was conscious of.

Eddy’s elegance and sophistication animate Road Trip. But the album is more than a restoration; it is a journey of a lifetime, and one of which its creator is justifiably proud.