Ledfoot aka Tim Scott McConnell and Ronni Le Tekrø seem, at first look, like an odd pair. Tim, born in Florida, has been based in Norway for many years, adopting the Ledfoot moniker in 2007 after a string of solo releases on major labels and as frontman of The Havalinas. Ronni Le Tekrø is best known as the guitarist in TNT, Norwegian rock royalty, enjoying considerable international success since their formation in 1982. The Norwegian connection would seem to be the cement here, and ‘Limited Edition Lava Lamp’ is their second record as a duo.

Sound-wise, 'Lava Lamp' is hard to pigeonhole. If you spotted the album in your local record store, you might wonder what to expect, and, to be honest, the previous works of Ledfoot and Le Tekrø make it even more difficult. Ronni Le Tekrø is a guitarist of the highest calibre, a spectacular player adept at any/all musical styles as demonstrated by his solo records, jazz releases on ECM with Terje Rypdal and two fantastic, wonderfully eclectic yet largely underappreciated albums with Vagabond. Ledfoot, as I mentioned earlier, is a singer and songwriter with decades of experience who coined the phrase Gothic Blues for his musical output. As with Le Tekrø, there’s a wide range of influences in play here from Ledfoot with his multiple solo records, including soundtracks for TV and even the occasional sidestep into acting. Ledfoot’s songs have been covered by Sheena Easton, of all people, and Bruce Springsteen. Yep, The Boss liked ‘High Hopes’ so much he recorded it, not once, but twice.

Recorded in a week at Le Tekrø’s Studio Nyhagen, ‘Limited Edition Lava Lamp’ consists of four songs written by Ledfoot, four co-writes with Le Tekrø, plus an inspired choice of cover tune in the form of ‘Sister’, from the soundtrack to ‘The Colour Purple’, written by the powerhouse combination of Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton (Heatwave/Michael Jackson) and Lionel Richie. 'Sister' is rearranged here by Le Tekrø as a weird kind of lounge jazz, Hawaiian, blues hybrid, and it still works!

**RONNI LE TEKRØ** photo by Anders Odden

The opening track, ‘Little Rosie’ sets the scene as we take a walk on the wild side with this Lou Reed–esque story of Little Rosie and Johnny Jazz on the road to an untimely end. The uplifting music and playful backing vocals offer a clever juxtaposition to the dark lyrical content. Mournful, weeping guitars underpin ‘Crying’ as Ledfoot reminds us to not take our relationships for granted because people won’t wait forever. The duo switch things up for ‘The Ego in the Coffin’ as Le Tekrø unleashes a big bluesy riff and swathes of wah-wah guitar before ‘You Should Know How Hard It Is’ provides top-notch murder balladry that could have easily been delivered by Johnny Cash or Nick Cave “The put the bodies in the ambulance. And the rain started falling really hard”.

The approach for ‘Limited Edition Lava Lamp’ is generally of moody reflection (not something I’d previously associated with Le Tekrø). The band; Anders Odden (bass), Trond Augland (drums), Markus O Klyve (keyboards) and producer HP Gunderson (who also contributes guitar parts) never overplay but still deliver a truly enveloping soundscape to accompany Ledfoot’s world-weary vocal style with the gorgeously immersive ‘Never Use Your Eyes’ a fine example. The title track is equally impressive, building on a repeated guitar motif, it slowly gathers momentum before expanding into a Pink Floydian backing track of bleeping keys, odd spoken word passages and multi-tracked guitars. The leap from ‘Little Rosie’ to ‘Limited Edition Lava Lamp’ is huge but doesn’t feel off-putting or out of place it just feels, well, like a natural evolution. To quote Ronni Le Tekrø, “We have been digging deeper, exploring and uniting our different styles, while the production has been pushed into territory we have never been before. This album will take you to Twin Peaks. Let your ears take you above and below.”

**LEDFOOT & RONNI LE TEKRØ** + musicians in the studio | photo by Cecilie Leganger

‘Limited Edition Lava Lamp’ is available now on LP, CD and digital formats, plus a limited LP edition pressed on 180g lava lamp (orange) vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.