AnyWay You Come is quiet and open with Fiona Amaka’s voice and a guitar that seems to have been carrying a heavy burden for some time. No large entrance. It just starts like a normal conversation, and that makes you feel immediately connected. Her voice is warm and used, as if she sings about a real situation and not performs […]
Pop-Rock/Review zukrassverliebt – In My Heart
The opening guitar line of zukrassverliebt’s In My Heart feels like it’s heading somewhere good. From the first few seconds, there’s a lightness, a sense of sitting up a bit straighter, before you’ve thought about why. There’s a natural progression to how the song is going to go and where it’s going to lead you that you can sense already. […]
Pop-Rock/Review Reetoxa – Love Keeps Burning Still
In “Love Keeps Burning Still”, Reetoxa’s opening piano part is like a private confession before the words come out. Mildly fragile, the kind of sound that you lean towards rather than away from. The song is immediately a personal one, and has a reality to it. The voice of Jason McKee is at the centre and open and unguarded. A […]
Pop-Rock/Review Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends – Happy People Won’t Hear (Album Version)
Alien Friends and An-Identified Flying Objects start “Happy People Won’t Hear” with a keyboard sound and shimmering guitars that immediately fill the space. The beginning is welcoming and comfortable. Nothing is rushed. The song is slow and seductive, luring you in slowly until you feel fully at home in its mood. The vocals are subdued, almost as if someone is […]
Pop-Rock/Review The Sway – The Grief (Remix by Harry Kook)
“The Grief (Remix by Harry Kook)” from The Sway is a rare feat. It takes a song that’s inspired by real loss and makes it into a song that you almost want to dance to. That combination doesn’t seem to work so well, but somehow it does. My first impression of this is the layering. It’s like there’s a pulse […]
Pop-Rock/Review Matt DeAngelis – Helpless To The Fire
With bright, unforced voice, Matt DeAngelis introduces “Helpless To The Fire”. It does not over-extend itself to make its point. It’s a natural style of delivery, even when the words get darker. That’s what got me from the first few seconds. This arrangement begins with a small one. The guitar and piano play quietly and patiently, followed by the drums, […]
Pop-Rock/Review Harry Kappen – Distant shore
The keyboard sound in Harry Kappen’s “Distant Shore” reminds me of a certain side of seventies rock. It’s the warm, slightly weird one that seems like it came from a long, long way away. The sound makes the whole song floaty. While listening, it seems as though the ground is slowly falling away from under your feet. The thing that […]
Pop-Rock/Review Fish And Scale – Letter from Paulus
There are some songs that creep up on you. Letter from Paulus did exactly that. German artist Roland Wälzlein has taken the world-famous hymn of love and transformed it into a quietly devastating rendition, in the most appropriate way. His voice is immediately apparent. It has a coarse, low heat that draws you in from the first moments. There’s a […]
ROCK/Review Lawnmother – Medicine- Hit Parade Mix
Lawnmother’s Medicine Hit Parade Mix starts off simply and stripped back with just a few notes, reminiscent of the beginning of a story around the fire. It grows rapidly and when the track finally lets go, it opens up with sound and energy in a swift pace that never completely loses its raw edge. This is not a track to […]
ROCK/Review Paul Louis Villani – Who Do You Belong to Now? (Great Southern Land)
There are some songs that stay with you for a long time. This is one of those. In “Who Do You Belong to Now? (Great Southern Land),” Paul Louis Villani has come out with something so moving, something that penetrates and sticks with you after the song is over. The first thing that catches the ear is the vocals. The […]
Pop/Review Milyam – Lost In The Jungle
You hit play and the outside world sort of fades out. It’s the only way I can put it. Lost in the Jungle is a seductive game that lures you in slowly and then takes you to another place altogether. MILYAM’s voice has a rare function. It doesn’t stand on top of the music. It flows through it and around […]
R&B/Review Milyam – Intimacy
Sometimes when you need music that understands you, that’s when you need it. Not loud or busy. That which rests still upon you and is true. Intimacy is exactly that kind of song. It locates you wherever you are. That’s what music like this is all about. It has no demands on you. It simply comes, it takes up residence […]
ROCK/Review Sean Tweedley – Ooola Hooora
There are songs that simply make you feel good. Not in a complicated way. Just good. One of those is Ooola Hooora. Once it begins you’re already nodding, when that bassline kicks in you’re all in. All of the instruments, vocals and sounds were recorded by Sean Tweedley himself in his home studio in Los Angeles. That kind of dedication […]
ROCK/Review Rosso Tierney – Oh Divine
Rosso Tierney has always appeared as if he has something significant to say. Now in “Oh Divine,” though, he seems to have found the purest path to doing it. This song is not as loud as some of his previous songs. It’s mostly about piano and vocals, and I believe it’s the simplicity that makes the emotions hit the target. […]
ROCK/Review Motihari Brigade – Fortunate Son
I must admit, this wasn’t what I thought I was going to get. When I heard that there was a Fortunate Son cover being released by Motihari Brigade, the project led by guitarist and songwriter Eric Winston, I felt it was logical as it is a popular song. But I didn’t expect it to hit this hard. I was kind […]
EDM/Review Neodym – Midnight Flow
There are some songs that feel like their own little world. That’s how I feel about Midnight Flow. It immediately takes you into this late night ambiance, energised by the quiet and neon lights. It is really full and engaging. This is a city around you, if you shut your eyes, you can imagine it. That’s a rather unusual sensation. […]
ROCK/Review Sean MacLeod – Light Up the Sun
The opening of this song is pretty nice. The acoustic guitar is soft, calm, unhurried, it slowly draws you in before the full sound begins to open up. When it goes right, that’s a slow build that can feel really satisfying. Here, I think it really does. When it all falls into place, you’re in it. The jangly guitars and […]
ROCK/Review Roman Ceglov – Fight
There are some songs which sound like they were ripped from a moment and never tidied up after. Fight is just that. It is raw and spontaneous, and it’s something you can’t fake. Right from the opening riff it pulls you in, and the tension doesn’t let up throughout. This is why it’s so interesting. The guitars are fuzz-heavy and […]
ROCK/Review OpCritical – Doing Fine
When a song has a clear message and delivers it with this much enthusiasm, it’s just so satisfying. From the opening riff, Doing Fine has you by the short hairs and doesn’t drop you. It’s raw and immediate like the best punk and grunge songs are and it embraces that influence.There’s an honesty in the performance that makes every lyric […]
LATIN POP/Review Yampier Diaz – El salaíto
There are songs that make you smile as soon as you hear them. El Salaíto is one of these. It has this kind of energy that’s contagious, it’s like it’s happening right in the moment, before you can even think about it. The type of track that gets you moving even if you didn’t intend to. This production here is […]
LOFI POP/Review tcr! – On Vancouver Island
When you feel a bit uncomfortable in the right kind of way, there are songs for that. One of those is on Vancouver Island. Establishes a woozy, tense tone from the get-go and never lets up. The opening acoustic guitar part is bluesy in nature and immediately grabs the listener’s attention with a steady, yet plucked sound. Its atmosphere lingers […]