Spearmint
A Week Away

15 years after its release, I am now reviewing the electrifying debut of one of the best and semi-unknown English Bands, Spearmint. The album in question is the amazing "A Week Away," released in 1999 and reissued in a Deluxe Remastered Version in 2009.

The album is thoroughly enjoyable from the first to the last track. The band, led by Shirley Lee, gained the audience's appreciation with a fresh and very enjoyable sound where the guitars are always front and center, just like Lee's splendid voice.

Among the best songs on the album, the opening track stands out, giving the album its title, "A Week Away," where the upbeat rhythm of the drums blends perfectly with the electric guitars—positive energy in its purest form.

Another pure gem of this extraordinary record is "Start Again," which begins with a barely hinted acoustic guitar arpeggio, only to unleash the band's full power after 1 minute and 10 seconds.

The album continues to be very enjoyable and closes with a big ballad "StrappaMutande." The first is "Making you laugh," a brief mini-song of scarcely 2 minutes with a "Chilling" Romanticism, almost from another era.

After this electrifying debut, Spearmint never achieved worldwide success but continued their career with consistently high-level albums, which led them to produce a total of 9 albums, the latest being "News from Nowhere," released this May. A piece of advice: go buy their entire discography; you won’t regret it!