At a time the world receives one big surprise after another, nearly on a daily basis, except for golf days, and the post 1945 world order is torn apart, it is time for new music. There are an exceptional number of new names in the singles' section this week. It cannot be more than a diversion from world politics unfortunately. The day that a respected, rather conservative magazine like 'The Economist' compares a president of a friendly(?) nation to Don Corleone, something is really, disturbingly wrong. Let's focus on the songs anyway. Enjoy this new selection.AAAAH! POM
Until
today the title 'AAAAH' was taken. The fantastic debut single of The
Hague band Taymir, long since gone, had the exclusive rights as far as I
was concerned. Luckily this can remain the case, as POM has only named
its EP AAAH! and not one of the songs. The songs are about wanting to shout AAAAH! So, I do not have to choose and
can simply praise the songs on the EP. POM can be found on this blog for
several years. First with its singles and then with that great fun album
'We Were Girls Together' and then some more singles. The trend you find
there is that POM is a band with a sound that is fairly unique due to
the voice of singer Liza van As. She blends something girlish with
maturity. The band provides her with a modern, alternative rock sound,
while the vocal and musical melody provides the songs with a pop feel
that makes the music irresistible. Take 'A Craving'. The songs rocks,
loud even, contains almost more energy than anyone can handle, but
creates the urge that makes me want to sing along for the whole of the
way. The song is one of POM's best and it already has a few of those for
a young band. With 'We Were Girls Together', my #5 album of 2023, POM
set a standard for itself. The only thing to complain about concerning
AAAAH! is that it's not a full album but only a four song EP. 'Nough
said.
There
are times that a song is just nice to listen to. Gratitude is one of
them. Adam Sherman knows how to write a song somewhere between different
genres, not unlike Tom Petty could and The Beatles set the standard
for. Not to forget where it all came together in a brilliant mix: The
Traveling Willburies! Gratitude has a nice rhythm and the electric
guitars provide some nice licks, strokes and twangs at the right moment.
Over the music Adam Sherman sings with a somewhat aged voice. The song
is a 100% duet with Robin Lane, who we met on this blog exactly two
years ago with her own album 'Dirt Road To Heaven'. Sometimes a song is
just nice to listen to. Let me leave it at that.
Sweat. King GarciaKing
Garcia is from the original Athens in Greece, a town that can look back
on thousands of years of history and the place where a form of
democracy started about 2500 years ago. The band consists of Alex
Orfanos – Trumpet & Clarinet, Kamil Kamieniecki – Drums, Kornilios
Kiriakidis – Bass and Kostas Konstantinidis – Guitar. Yes, you've read
right, it starts with a trumpet and clarinet player. There's no singer
and you may hear a more traditional Greek instrument along the way as
well. King Garcia formed in 2019 with all members bringing in a lot of
experience from their respective musical past. They play their own brand
of progrock with several musical climaxes in one song. Sweat starts off
with a dry drum sound, not unlike Therapy's in the 1990s after which a
dark riff kicks in and the song develops from there into highs and lows,
light and dark, but often with traditional Greek rebetico elements
woven into the hardrock. Very much worthwhile the listen to Sweat is. I
love how important the drums are in this song. And you can guess what
the lead instrument is, right? Album 'Hamelin' is out on 18 April.
From
the Northern Beaches of Sydney comes another new name to this blog,
Ocean Alley. This six member surfer dudes band seems even more popular
in New Zealand than in Australia, its home country. To me the band is
totally new, despite it started in 2011 already and releasing records
since 2013. Left Of The Dealer is a super relaxed song with a lot of
Creedence Clearwater Revival influences seeping into the rhythm and
rhythm guitar. In the singing a little psychedelia seeps in. On the one
hand the song is upbeat but due to the singing of Baden Donegal the song
has a downbeat element as well. But then listen to that ooh ooh in the
chorus and the sun comes from behind the clouds immediately. Left Of The
Dealer may not be the best song I've ever heard but it provides Ocean
Alley with a great introduction to this listener for whatever comes
next.
Bardo or Heaven? Will StrattonWill
Stratton released his album Points Of Origin two days ago on this day of
posting. Bardo Or Heaven? is one of the singles coming from the
album. The song is a sophisticated singer-songwriter song aimed at the
more serious music lover. Where the song starts with a fairly
straightforward arrangement, Stratton allows for more and more
instruments to come in, until there is a near cacophony of woodwinds, and horns when the song, abruptly, ends. The start is drums,
bass, guitar and a piano that is the most present instrument, there. It gives
Stratton the option to sing with his soft voice over it all. Slowly but
surely other instruments come in. At first, accompanying but in the end
they kick Will Stratton out of the song. We don't need you any more,
singer, they seem to say. Bardo Or heaven? is a listening experience in
more than one sense.
Sanctuary. Rebekka Karijord & Roomful of TeethHow
to describe Sanctuary? My musical ear and experience tell me new age.
As the music is more a composition, a modern composition than a song,
but at the same time the song has some resemblance to Enya's 'Orinico
Flow'. Where that was a song with atmospherics, Sanctuary is
atmospherics with the rudimental traces of a song hidden in it. Rebekka
Karijord is a Norwegian composer, living in Stockholm, Sweden's capital.
She has composed numerous filmscores and music for performances, but
also solo records. Her upcoming record, 'The Bell Tower' (25 April), is a
collaboration with the vocal group Roomful of Teeth. The singing takes
place over swaths of electronic music and a crackling sound, in which the
song disappears and comes back to. The melody is carried by the voices.
This is straight 'Kairos' material. If I have to compare it to anyone
else, Norwegian singer Susanna is the only one coming to mind, besides
the already mentioned Enya. Intriguing is the right word to describe
Sanctuary.
A
new song by Supersister? That ought to be a surprise but with its
drummer living down my street, it's not. (My band Sweetwood even performed once
with Léon Klaasse at our local street party.) So much for me thumping my
chest. Supersister and I go back for over half a century, when I got a
compilation album with Dutch artists containing 'She Was Naked', that
outrageous single for more than the title only. By the time I had money
to buy albums Supersister was long something of the past. For a few years the band
is back on the road, with songwriter, singer and keyboardist Robert Jan
Stips as the only original member, former Golden Earring bassist Rinus
Gerritsen and Klaasse on drums. Anywhere The Wind is a dreamy song.
Stips sounds as if he is still in the early 1970s where his singing is
concerned. The most distinguishing instruments is the grand piano he
plays, letting wide ranging notes escape from it. A dark synth takes
care of the bottom line. What to expect from a band over fifty years
down the line? Well, a song like Anywhere The Wind is the right answer.
Another
new name on the blog this week is Robin Jackson. The Portland, Oregon
singer-songwriter had to make up with someone and came up with Back To
Your Heart. It doesn't say whether he succeeded but a person could be
quite pleasantly surprised when someone writes a song like Back To Your
Heart. Jackson sings with a modest tone striking the right tone when
asking for forgiveness. The song has two parts, the quiet first three
quarters and the more upbeat final quarter where the beat comes in and
lyrics are superfluous. "li-li-li" seems enough here, suggesting a happy
ending? I guess so. This song is for fans of e.g. James Blunt's hit
'You're Beautiful'. Album 'Silver Lining' is out already.
Spades. VundabarAnd,
yes, another new name on the blog. How is it possible to have so many
on one day? Vundabar is a Boston band that has not reached me through
one of the three record companies or pr agencies from that town/region. Even
that is possible. Brandon Hagen (guitar, vocals), Drew McDonald (drums)
and Zack Abramo (bass) form Vundabar, which is a take on the German word
Wunderbar I suppose. (Remember that great Tenpole Tudor single from the early 80s?) Spades is an alternative rock song, with a
little of the doom and gloom sound of the early 80s because of the way
Brandon Hagen sings. The music is far more eclectic though, if dark. Where the
early 80 postpunk bands were afraid of the bomb, Vundabar musical sets
it off. There's postpunk galore here but with an energy and big sound
bands then could not even dream of. Album 'Surgery And Pleasure' is out.
Dime. SerebiiHow
else can we end this week then with another new name. New Zealander
Serebii (Callum Mower) presents a track that any lover of
singer-songwriter music will recognise as Nick Drake influenced. The bio
speaks of a jazzy track and that is the sort of arrangement Nick
Drake's producer Joe Boyd laid underneath his voice and acoustic
guitar. Serebii does not just copy. For that the sound of Dime is far
too modern. The basis of the single is Mower and his (I
presume) acoustic guitar. From there the story starts. His voice is
treated, unlike the live version on You Tube which is more organic. All
through the song other instruments join in, only to disappear again just as abruptly, while
that guitar is plucked all throughout. Album 'Díme' is out on 28 March.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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