First Signal

First Signal, released in August 2010, is an AOR/melodic rock record built on warm vocals, rich harmonies and polished keyboards. The singer is Harry Hess of Harem Scarem. That band was on hiatus at the time, and the project began when Frontiers president Serafino Perugino put it to Hess that he had melodic rock songs carrying the same vibe and magic as Harem Scarem. His partner in it was Dennis Ward of Pink Cream 69 and Khymera. The songs value the flow of melody over flash, raising the emotion gradually inside refined arrangements. Michael Klein plays guitar, Eric Ragno keyboards and Chris Schmidt drums, with Hess's former Harem Scarem colleague Darren Smith on backing vocals. The writers are a lavish list: two songs from Richard Marx, two from Bob Marlette, and two from Erik Mårtensson with Magnus Henriksson and Robert Säll in tow. James Christian of House of Lords also has a co-write. A record whose grown-up melodic feeling and Nordic clarity are a pleasure — and many welcomed it as Hess returning to the traditional AOR line of early Harem Scarem.