Jeff created the cover art with Microsoft 3-D.

From the description on Soundcloud:

The music to this album was written, recorded and produced by Jeff Lane in the desert region of Qatar (October 2020 - March 2021)

The lyrics were written and the vocals were recorded by Jeff Lane in Oklahoma, (April 2021).

The first track is Sunrise in The Desert. It opens up with an electric guitar tone that is reminiscent of The Black Keys Lonely Boy but quickly turns into a kind of mystical introduction to what is in store throughout the album, which is an authentic take on the desert blues, and tons of VARIETY. The production throughout is extremely ambitious and Jeff pulls it off.

Track two, Due In My Time is where the desert blues seeps in for the first minute or so, then the intensity picks up with some heavily over-driven electric guitar. The shaker is a nice touch and Jeff's doubled vocals seem clear, and well-recorded.

Track three features some nice, clean electric guitar working out some spacey bends and echo before the organ and drums creep in. Waiting for the night is where Jeff's many years of experience on the keyboards comes into view, adding some synth saxophone to the organ underneath. Also the non-lyrical vocal chanting is a nice touch. At the 2:15 mark, electric guitar shredding ensues, followed by a new movement in the song with what sounds like synth horns, guitar and a drum breakdown to close it out.

Track four opens with some spacey synth strings, keyboards and beat. Golden Days was the track that jumped out at me upon my first listen. It is short and sweet but a real gem.

Track five is called Quick Sand. It has a bit of a reggae vibe and features what sounds like an electric guitar with a wah-wah pedal. The bass guitar seems more prominent on this track than the others. Nice echoes on the vocal melody. The last 15 seconds sound like something you might hear at a haunted house in India.

Track six is called "Find A Way". It starts out driven by what sounds like a fuzzed out bass guitar and quickly changes rhythms. Like some of the previous tracks, this one has several different movements. Jeff's vocals really stand out in this one beginning around the 1:45 mark. This song turns into what might be considered a prayer and is a beautiful statement and sentiment about non-judgement and unconditional agape love.

Track seven, The Oasis begins with some soft strings and what sounds like a nylon string acoustic guitar, followed by some other synth keyboard sounds. Layered vocals by Jeff follow, then comes a synthetic, female choir. This is a very interesting composition and quite sophisticated, especially considering all of the different sounds Jeff picked out.

Track eight could have been something written for the band Faith No More. A bass guitar drives the tune joined by an overdriven electric guitar playing a counter-melody. Jeff's vocals almost sound like rap during the verse but quickly turn to melodic singing for the chorus/choir. The rhythm of the bass and beat make this a very danceable tune. There are some super awesome 80s sounding chord-hits in the breakdown, followed by another chorus.

Track 9 really highlights Jeff's guitar chops, especially around the 1:20 mark. The guitar takes off here and begins to shred, as they say, then trails off into another movement before shredding again on the way out.

Track 10 is titled On The Rocks. Organized chaos ensues. This would make great background music for an open air market scene in a film or IRL.

Track 11 is the title track. Signs of Life begins with a guitar tone and riff very similar to Don't Fear The Reaper. Clocking in at 4:03, this might be the longest song on the record. As far as composition goes, this song seems to follow a traditional structure more than any of the others but still works. His vocal performance and recording stands out though. Especially the high-harmony that comes in around 2:27.

The final track, track 12 is Crystal Dream, and here is another one that seems custom-built for an 80s film, in a good way. It is a beautiful, instrumental song that sounds like it was assembled using multiple keyboard tracks, Jeff's oldest, if not primary weapon. But the electric guitar creeps back in around the 1:21 mark with a nice, slightly overdriven picking pattern. Another soaring electric guitar comes in for the next pass, and throughtout, although it is somewhat in the distance.

Signs of Life was a very welcome surprise to my ears, featuring 12 original compositions with legit, authentic boots-on-the-ground flavor from the deserts of Qatar and Southern Oklahoma. Jeff has released three more albums which can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/jeff-87

Richie