Levara consists of guitarist Trev Lukather, Jules Galli on vocals and Josh Devine on drums. This is their first studio album after a lengthy pre-pandemic touring schedule. The release is noticeably and pleasantly absent of keyboards. Former Journey frontman Steve Perry was involved in the entire studio project.
Heaven Knows is a catchy tune, with a bit of a Journey aura. Automatic is their anthem type song, and has a nice rhythm and overall sound. Ever Enough is close to a ballad tempo, with some interesting guitar work. On For The Night is a good pop song with a nice guitar break. Allow has some nice percussion effects and guitar parts. Can’t Get Over is a nicely structured piece, vocals, instruments, everything fits. It’s my favorite on the disc. Chameleon is another sort of ballad song that they did a video on. My second favorite. Good blending of their talents with the addition of Steve Perry. Ordinary is a track that progresses with good guitar work. Just A Man offers a view of self examination and explanation. No One Above You is a personal relationship ballad.
Trev’s guitar work is tastefully done, some parts are reminiscent of the way Toto’s guitarist (his dad Steve of course) would play them. Trev experimented with a pile of pedals to get unique sounds while avoiding using a keyboard. Jules has a voice that stands out, and their vocal arrangements work well with their material. Josh does a nice job with percussion and filling in parts. The mixing and vocal arrangements definitely stand out here. Levara offers a hard to pin down sound. This release is a blend of all things creative and pleasing to listen to. A lot of relationship based lyrics, but most lyrical material primarily is. The band offers some hints of 80’s-90’s Journey, Toto, etc. influences. The group will add a bass player for upcoming tours. Check out this release and their assortment of videos.
