Cornerstone - 'Private Eyes'

Austrian heroes Cornerstone have a special place in my heart as one of the first bands I covered for Rockfiend and it’s great to have them back with this new single and a new British singer Elena Atkinson. She’s great on this tune. It begins with multi-part harmonies and a gentle keyboard intro before the evocative vocal takes over, accompanied by well-spaced guitar chords and fills. The song, by Michael Wachelhofer, has a beguiling lyrical theme that initially seems sweet, but underneath it is actually a tale of obsession and stalking, in a similar vain to The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’. Give it two play-throughs at decent volume and this song will be living rent-free in your head for the rest of the year.

Everything about the song just works, from Stefan Wachelhofer’s expressive guitar solo to the short vocal only passages which add a sense of drama. Some of the credit for that might go to Harry Hess who is again on mixing and production duties. You might recall his work on the band’s criminally under-rated ‘Reflections’ album which is pure AOR perfection with tremendous songs like ‘Last Night’, ‘Northern Light’ and ‘Heart on Fire’ making it one of those quality deep-cuts that all AOR lovers should seek out and dig into.  

The band are currently playing gigs at home and in Germany and also featured on Austrian breakfast TV this week. They have been regular visitors to the UK but their only scheduled performance this year is actually this weekend at the International Pop Overthrow Music Festival in Liverpool. They will appear at The Cavern Club on Friday 20th May at 7PM and then The Cavern Pub at Noon on the Saturday.

Hopefully the footage from the ‘Guten Morgen Oesterreich’ will find its way online and, time and funds permitting, there should be a promotional video to follow soon.

The song is available on Spotify, iTunes and the usual platforms!