When brothers Justin and Dan Hawkins (The Darkness’s singer and guitarist respectively) set their minds to a new project, they don’t do things by half. Who can forget their album One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back, a record that sounds like Queen taken to the extreme! Easter Is Cancelled is a controlled chaos that mixes influences from the likes of Thin Lizzy, Queen, AC/DC. It’s masterful rock’n’roll with an uncomplicated operatic touch. With a good dose humour, the band confronts the unexpected changes that life throws our way, though this concept album is anything but soft. Each track is composed with a great meticulousness, largely thanks to guitarist and producer Dan Hawkins. This becomes evident right from the opening track with Rock’n’roll Deserves to Die, a kind of halfway point between an acoustic ballad and assertive hard rock, as well as the brilliant song Heart Explodes where every note goes shivering down your spine. Let’s not forget We Are the Guitar Men, an ode to great guitarists and the joys of making music – themes which seem to run throughout the whole of Easter is Cancelled, a record which can only be fully understood by taking the time to soak in each piece. © Maxime Archambaud/Qobuz