Whether you fully believe the story of the inspiration for the third album from Dorothy, the band fronted by vocal powerhouse Dorothy Martin, that a member of the band’s crew came back to life as she prayed over his lifeless body for his recovery from an overdose, or not, the uplifting country blues soft rocker that serves as the title-track and final song leaves an overriding tone for act’s third album Gifts From The Holy Ghost (Spinefarm Records / Roc Nation) in the mind: “leaving all your fear behind… we’ve been lost, we are gifts from the holy ghost”. 

Rejuvenation isn’t just a metaphor, it is present throughout – stomping anthem ‘Top Of The World’ references rebirth – and it is a fitting narrative as a feeling of positivity and renewal pervades all through this defining release, and it’s a vibe that thoroughly suits Martin and her eponymous band. 

Following a high-profile debut launch, complete with Rolling Stone hype, …Holy Ghost comes on the back of a more stripped back, desert-feeling second album, and sees Dorothy find themselves. The amps are turned up, the production is strong, the authoritative vocals are front and centre, and there is a sense of both feeling and meaning to the hard rockers on display – not every rock album has heart and soul in it; Martin isn’t just believable, she is living these songs. In return, the cast around her are playing their part, too, adding blues and Southern touches to a diet of straight-forward rockers, and utilising the talents of Jason Hook (ex-Five Finger Death Punch), Phil X (Bon Jovi) and Keith Wallen (Breaking Benjamin) on six-string and songwriting sentry duty, with legendary Chris Lord-Alge (Muse, My Chemical Romance et al) responsible for the sonics. 

While there are few surprises – you don’t come to Dorothy expecting jazz fusion – there is a quality and each song benefits from a commanding chorus and control of vocal dynamics, often building from a stomping verse to deliver. Hard rock, either the swaggering blues-y kind of ‘Big Guns’ or ‘Rest In Peace’, the eighties style of the Shania Twain meets Bon Jovi ‘Hurricane’, or the uptempo surging trio of ‘Black Sheep’, ‘Touched By Fire’ and ‘Made To Die’ with its retro bass-led verses and voices-to-the-sky rousing chorus that give the album a push lifting the second half, is the order of the day, and it is delivered with both style and substance. 

In the hands of Dorothy, rock isn’t dead… and if it was, it has been resurrected and is thriving.  

Buy the album here: https://amzn.to/3rzUgk0

8 / 10

STEVE TOVEY