After making slow yet steady progress over the previous few years, in 2014 these Brits were taken under the wing of Joe Elliott who invited them to support his Down ’N’ Outz and supplied a track for their third album, Stereo Messiah.
Recently seen on a lengthy tour with Magnum, the band’s upward arc continues with Who We Are, produced by Harry Hess of the Canadian rock act Harem Scarem. Hess has enhanced the things that Vega do so well: glossy, pop-driven nuggets with addictive hooks are just about everywhere, though he reins in their so-called ‘shred king’, Marcus Thurston, keeping the guitarist’s contributions short and tasteful.
The material, however, is to Vega’s usual high standard. Already stage favourites, Explode, Every Little Monster and Saving Grace all qualify as AOR in the loosest sense possible, crackling with a crisp mix of fist-in-the-air dynamics and modern rock’s sleek immediacy.
