Single Review: Angeline

One Dead Man is Michael Baxter from Tauranga bands The Dead Man 6 and The Knids, who came up with the idea during lockdown of putting together a collection of songs which would work together as a rock opera or concept album, and he settled on the idea of relationships and making deals with the devil (both metaphorically and spiritually) to satisfy your own needs and wants. The Deal will be released by the end of the year, so for now here is the single, Angeline, which is sung by the character of Gabriel, played by Kingsley Smith (Knightshade) who also provides piano on the track.

I came across one of Michael’s bands, The Kinds, earlier this year and was suitably impressed with their recent album, One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Manknid, so I was looking forward to this and I was not disappointed. While Steinman has been an obvious influence, this song also has much in common with classic musicals such as Grease or The Rocky Horror Picture Show and based on this one song I imagine the album to be very theatrical indeed. There is a punkish drive within this, an edge which takes it a long way from sugar pop musicals, which makes it feel far more real and vibrant. The small spoken word section takes us back in time yet is definitely fitting within the overall context. I am certainly looking forward to hearing the album when it is available.