Telling Of The Bees. Chalk Horse Music
Italian retro rockers BBF released a single from its upcoming album 'I Will Be Found'. Cosmic Surgery is as psychedelic as the word cosmos suggests and as precise as surgeons need to be. This sounds totally paradoxical but listen to Cosmic Surgery and you'll find it to be a precise description. The music is retro and psychedelic, the singing unsteady, the drums however are rock solid. Agreed the cymbals contribute to the psychedelic part. The bass plays a rock solid riff continuously. Finally the acoustic guitar solo is one of extreme precision. In short, the best of both worlds. I love the way the electric guitar kicks in with a pickslide down the E snare. The only minor point is the vocal melody. It is not the most memorable I've ever heard. The song makes mostly up for it though. Cosmic Surgery is just nice to listen to.
A new single from Amsterdam alternative rockers a fungus. It's the first for me though. If the question ever arises 'do I have enough alternative rock bands from Amsterdam in my collection?', the answer on the basis of Mark's Bag single has to be no, certainly not. Mark's Bag catches rock, melody, power and mystery all in one. True, I have a hard time to keep them all apart, but that has to do more with age than quality. a fungus in its new single manages to contain a lot of noise within a >three minutes single without overdoing it for one second. Guitar melodies that balance on the rim of a deep ravine yet never fall over, while weaving in and out of each other most of the time, until the moment comes to go full out as a band. The jump off the cliff's rim and sail the air on sheer willpower. Is it new? Is it original? No, I've heard it all before. Is it nice. Oh, yes!
Caulbearers returns on this blog with an oh so nice single. The groove never let's go for a second, while the song presents melody all over. Mancunians Caulbearers with Twisted Cord take a little from the Madchester rhythms, a light touch of punkfunk and do not mind to lend a little melodic prowess from the grandads of Manchester pop The Hollies. Ruth Blake, who came by on these pages with her beautiful single 'Brave Ships', graces Twisted Cord with her background vocals. A sharp, almost otherworldly violin solo by Olivia Moore gives the song a short change of vibe. Musically the song is extremely rich with all the different sounds that come by all through it. Piano, electric guitars, organ, synths, they pop up and leave, leaving the listener wondering what will be next. Twisted Cord truly mixes rhythm with melodies. Go and check it out.
A modern ballad is what I would call All Of The Eclipses. Marissa Nadler's latest single mixes a slow tempo with a mysterious atmosphere, including a 'Twin Peaks', reverb-drenched guitar and almost ghostlike singing. The mix is full. There may not be a lot of instruments played at once as such, their sounds are spread out over the whole mix. It causes All Of The Eclipses to be a top-heavy song. Long-held notes and slow sung words make that the music and voices are everywhere, with the drums, lead voice and reverb guitar as solid anchors in the swooning sea of sounds. When at the end the music slowly fades out, Marissa Nadler shows how many times her voice was overdubbed. Enough to fill my ears and more. Where the atmosphere is concerned, I am reminded of Julee Cruise's hit single in combination with the Celtic music of Clannad and Enya of over 30 years ago. All Of The Eclipses is a rich song with so much to discover. It's very much worthwhile to explore and invest time in and find what grabs you, as it will.
New Red on Red signee Gymnasium releases its first single on the label with Tavern At The End Of The World. Prepare yourself for timetravelling as it is as if I'm listening to a long lost track of Teenage Fanclub experimenting with a somewhat tougher sound, like The Posies or Fountains of Wayne. In other words perfect pop caught in a rocking song. It is the announcement of an album called 'Hansen's Pop 'n' Rock '22'. No less than a double album with 22 songs and announced as the finest rock opera since 'Quadrophenia'. Something to look out for indeed this spring. If Tavern ... is anything to go by, the world can expect a great mix of pop and rock indeed. Great harmony vocals, oohs and ahhs all over the place. There will be a truckload of fine melodies, exploding solo's, soft interludes in memorable songs. And all on Red on Red Records from Boston. I can't wait to hear more.
Luctor et emergo is the motto of the province of Sealand in the Netherlands. Reading the story behind Porta, Sharon van Etten's new single, brought the motto to mind immediately. She had to fight off her demons, to emerge and continue her life. Porta is a song on the brink of doubt and conviction. In her voice the doubt shows while the song is rock solid. A strong beat is the spine of Porta. The synths spacious and ready to take on the whole universe if necessary. The guitar strokes ready to fight anything. "I've gotta think straight to get back", Van Etten sings, talking conviction into her voice and succeeding, on the face of Porta. The song itself has strong ties to 80s doom and synthrock but as a single in 2022 stands its ground more than enough. Porta is a strong single.
More 80s can be found in the new single of Ava Vox, following her previous single 'Crush', that can be found on these pages as well. Ava Vox sings with an ink black voice, suited for 80s songs by bands who preferred to operate in the darker segments of pop and rock. A singer who comes to mind immediately is Hazel O'Connor, whose single 'Will You?' remains one of the most perfect songs of that era. Alone Again adds a lighter touch in the music. The song allows some light in with the synths and lead guitar sounds. It is Vox' dark voice that determines the overall mood that fits the intro like a glove. Alone Again is about an abusive relationship, that the lead figure escapes from. But can she truly escape? A dark topic but for too many people a reality. Ava Vox has found the right tone to address it and shows how hard the fight against it is.
The debut single of Dutch folk pop singer-songwriter was released recently. Neomi Speelman is a singer of Dutch-Surinam descent operating in a well that is chock full of singer-songwriters presenting themselves with soft songs with some electronics underneath of the singer-songwriter composition. if i wasn't made for love is a dreamy song with a singer singing with a somewhat hesitant voice. The lyrics touch upon a level of uncertainty many adolescents and young adults may have felt at some point: What if I wasn't made for love? Whether on the giving or receiving end. For most, things turn out alright a few years later. néomí's debut can be called a success. The song presents itself in a strong way. It slowly builds up and up, leading to a crescendo at the end, after which the highest peak is allowed to slowly fade out. The accompaniment is tasteful supporting at first voice and acoustic guitar and later on embellishing the song in subtle ways and a softish yet solid drums. Late in June EP 'before' will see the light of day. Something to look forward to.
Last year we met Linnea's Garden for the first time on this blog, with the (singles from the EP) 'Nowhere Friday Nights'. In April Linnea's Garden will release its debut LP 'Fashion Show'. Looking is the album's first single and what a single it is. Drums, tight, close, filling the sound spectrum without being obtrusive to the rest and the bass guitar, playing great rhythm lines, are the backbone of Looking. The guitar plays sparse notes more than song-filling huge chords as usual in trio line ups. It gives the song a lightness that allows Linnea Herzog to sing over it without having to exert herself in any way. Her voice is thinnish but oh so right for Looking. Enters the intermezzo with a slightly distorted guitar, putting the song on its head for a while (and is the outro). What I also love, is the change of rhythm from the verse to the chorus. This change gives the song such a surge of energy. Looking to me is the exactly right kind of song to introduce an album with. In other words a great choice for a single.
Wout de Natris
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