Charlotte Wessels – Chasing Sunsets – Single Review – holdtightpr

Review By Darren McIntyre

Johanna Charlotte Wessels is a singer / songwriter from Zwolle, Netherlands who is best known as the former lead vocalist of symphonic metal band Delain. Charlotte began her journey in the music industry when she joined gothic metal outfit To Elysium where she performed from 2000 – 2005, Charlotte became involved with Delain when she was asked to write some lyrics and vocalise and she did this till 2021 when she departed the band.

Inbetween her stint in Delain she was also part of symphonic outfit Phantasma where she gave us album The Deviant Hearts, after that she decided to return to her solo roots and gave us album Tales From Six Feet Under in 2021, 2022 sees us getting Tales From Six Feet Under Vol II, Charlotte drops her 3rd offering The Obsession on the 20th September and from that comes the mesmerising single Chasing Sunsets which I will be reviewing for you today.

Chasing Sunsets – We get a symphonic intro of soaring synth tones and sizzling guitar fills as this crunching foot stomper raises it’s head and lets us feel the energy oozing from the getgo. Charlotte brings her incredible vocals to the party as we kick in with a pounding rhythm section that brings snare drum punches that welcome cymbal crashes that really give this track depth, the band are tight with a real crunching groove that hits us with searing chords that let this track breathe. The mesmerising vocals are capturing the real symphonic essence of this track as we float along with Charlotte as she tells her story beautifully and really pulls you in with the lyrics that just wrap themselves around us. The rhythm section is delivering solid snare drum beats as the bass kicks welcome the story as the tempo changes pace for a little as we flow effortlessly through the arrangement and let Charlotte bring the mystery to this foot stomping symphonic masterpiece as she really lets her vocals do the talking.

Charlotte Wessels  –
                               Charlotte Wessels  –  Vocals
                               Timo Somers  –  Guitar / Additional Arrangements
                               Otto Schimmelpinnick Van De Oije  –  Bass
                               Sophie Vernikov  –  Piano / Hammond
                               Joey Marin De Boer  –  Drums

Track Listing  –
                       Chasing Sunsets