Bassist Becky Baldwin has put out a video in which she plays «Stormwatcher», a track from Tony Iommi’s new solo album, «From The Dark».
The Black Sabbath guitarist’s record is out on Friday, October 23 via BMG, while «Stormwatcher» had already appeared as a single in September.
“`Baldwin plays on every song, together with vocalist Jorn Lande and drummer Karl Brazil, who has worked with Robbie Williams and James Blunt. The production was handled by Iommi with his long-time collaborator Mike Exeter.
Baldwin, who has been Mercyful Fate’s bassist since January 2024, said recently that at first she thought the offer to work with Iommi was fake. Exeter had been following her bass covers for years — among them a version of Black Sabbath’s «Children Of The Sea» — and recommended her when Iommi asked for a bassist from the area. They asked her for one song and she ended up recording the whole album, writing her own lines with them. A tour is not in the plans.
Iommi explained to Rolling Stone why he picked her: she lives in Birmingham, she is a very good player and she admires Geezer Butler, playing in his style. As he put it, he wanted Butler himself first, but he could not come to England at that time, so he tried Baldwin.
Baldwin had first toured with Mercyful Fate in late 2022, as a replacement for Joey Vera. She grew up in Trowbridge, studied at BIMM Bristol and now lives in Birmingham.
«From The Dark» is Iommi’s first solo album since «Fused» in 2005. He said this week that he made it without time pressure and without a tour, and Lande described working with him as every rock singer’s dream.
Source: https://metal-stop.com/becky-baldwin-shares-stormwatcher-bass-playthrough-from-tony-iommis-new-album/
