The Garden Dream. gglum

The Garden Dream is an album that does right to the band name Ella Smoker chose for herself: gglum. Even putting an extra emphasis on the start of the word. It represents how she felt when she started to create music for herself, at an age that many, if not all teenagers walk either with their heart on their sleeves or hide their emotions down deep afraid to show feelings, while both categories have a head filled with uncertainty, showing or hidden behind big mouths that strike again. The bright side is that most people live through this period of adolescence and find themselves and their way through life.

Ella Smoker has found a path, as her debut album is one that contains several outstanding songs. At 21 she shows a few sides of herself. There is the vulnerable singer, there's the tough indierocker with a distorted voice, the Boygenius bug, alternative dance-rock and the singer-songwriter in the Elliot Smith tradition. Musically she not afraid to show different sides as well. It makes The Garden Dream a varied album with enough to explore, digest and enjoy.

What stands out in most songs, is the atmospheric sounds that pop up and disappear. It makes listening to The Garden Dream an adventure. The little surprises that come by add no little to the album and gglum's impact on the listener.

Although, as far as I know, I had never heard of gglum before its single 'Do You See Me Differently?' featuring Kamal, there have been previous releases. Ella Smoker first came into view with 'Why Don't I Care?' released during the height of the pandemic.This was followed by two 8-track projects (the technique or the number of songs?) and this week with her first album. If anything, it shows that gglum is ready for the world to hear her songs.

With her teenage years behind her, she was ready to look back. Working with producer Karma Kid (Sam Knowles), together they created a musical work that allows any idea and concept to be followed and worked into the basic songs Ella Smoker had written in her bedroom. In most songs that basic idea of the songs can still be discerned. For some it's harder than others. With one exception, for me that is, all the studio versions work really, to extremely well.

The Garden Dream introduces gglum to a bigger part of the world and rightly so. Playing the music gglum does the world may well be ready for The Garden Dream as well. I was.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order The Garden Dream here:

https://gggglum.bandcamp.com/album/the-garden-dream

Nature Calls. The Stream live. Theater Ins Blau Leiden, Thursday 28 March 2024

Photo: Wout de Natris

On the day I learned that one of the most hideous flats of Leiden is going to be renovated again, next summer, by then 37 years after when I used to live there and it was renovated, I saw it standing in the distance when I was walking to Theater Ins Blau to see the most surprising and different show I ever was present at. A show not only combining science with music but as a form of total theatre that made it sometimes impossible to be cognisant of all aspects. Beyond Cirque de Soleil doing two acts at the same time ,while playing irrelevant music.

Leiden band The Stream played its show Nature Calls, also the name of its new album that was released on the 29th. In other words, I heard songs that I had never heard before and was surprised the whole of the way. Not so much by the music, this was vintage The Stream, but by everything else. In fact, I was surprised to be able to sing along to every word of one of the songs, on which more later.

Jan Stroomer, the band's leader and songwriter, told me that the concept of the album started when he visited his former department of physics at the university. From there a concept was slowly built around themes on the laws of physics, astronomy, etc. Song were written around these themes, some pure physics, others, tying life to nature's laws. I'm a historian, so some of the topics go way beyond my grasp, except that I have a general interest and like to know a bit about a lot, which does not equal understanding. Yet, Nature Calls.

Photo: Wout de Natris

The Stream was in a more dense line up than six years ago. Bass, drums, two keyboards, three singers and, a theremin!. As a guitar man, as yours truly is, this is a strange line up. Billy Joel, Elton, exceptions permitted, they are not for me. The Stream is. The band's songs go everywhere, from 1920s Berlin cabaret and vaudeville to Elton c.s. and above all The Stream. Jan Stroomer is more a fan of Queen and Freddy Mercury he told me a few years back in an interview and that shows. More importantly, he is a true songsmith. He's able to make something nice out of something in theory very weird, but also can write and sing beautiful ballads. Several came by in Ins Blau. The kind that make me very quiet.

All the time the band played, steam was moving over the stage floor, a pendulum of light moved, small explosions took place, random movement took place, a hand was lit several times. Stichting Rino were doing science tricks on stage, mostly successful, not always. "If it smells, it's biology, if it explodes, it's chemistry, when it fails, it's physics", I learned. On a big screen at the back of the stage, equations came by but also the most beautiful pictures of the universe. Black holes, nebulas, the night sky over hours of time, rocket launches, while the music played, science was prepared and shown and a story sung. It was too much to keep up with all at the same, yet together so impressive.

Photo: Wout de Natris

The biggest surprise was hearing Elton's 'Rocket Man' but even more, for the first time in my life, a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Time'. With Dave Gilmour's solo played very convincingly on the six string bass. It was the first time I realised how good the drummer's timing must be and then the rest of the band's. I saw everyone moving their bodies to the time signature. And then, after the long intro, I could sing along to one of my favourite songs of one of my top 5 albums of all time.

Nature Calls is a fantastic show. The music matches it. The album is available on The Stream services as of today. I haven't heard the album yet, but I certainly want to. I've such heard such beautiful songs in the theatre.

When the show plays again, do not hesitate and go and see it. I have never seen anything like it in the most positive sense possible.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Nature Calls here:

https://thestream.bandcamp.com/track/nature-calls

2024. Week 13, 10 singles

Almost, almost, for the first time ever in all the ten singles posts over the past years, the 10 songs at the top my weekly overview and presented to me in a random order, made it to this post. Until I reached number 10 and the sort of metal there proved too much for my ears and the next song was too weird to listen to when trying to relax during a very stressed application deadline. But then, 12 songs out of ten may be a record as well. I'm not keeping score. Again you will find a mix of familiar names on this blog, several debuts and one very old time favourite with a fantastic renditions of a song that turns 58 this year.  The original is from another decade long favourite of mine. Enjoy!

Passing Judgement. Been Stellar

What goes around, comes around. This certainly goes for the music of Been Stellar from New York City. In fact multiple times. From punk, to shoegaze, grunge and indie rock, it is all contained in Passing Judgement, the first single from the band's upcoming album 'Scream From New York, NY' (14 June). The light and the shade, Tommy Iommi's favourite musical phrase is in here in the tight. more empty verse. The verses are noisy, loose, perhaps even a bit controlled messy. The end result is a highly charged song that goes down really well here. Singer Sam Slocum has that kind of voice that hovers between emotions and boredom coming with the music. Until he becomes as it were too involved and emotional, certainly towards the end, to pass for a shoegazer, and he's too aloof to be called a grunger. Slocum ends up somewhere in the middle, yet has a voice that I like listening to. My introduction to Been Stellar goes down well, I'd say.

Evening Mood. Julia Holter

For Julia Holter you will have to go back eight years on this blog, for a review by Erwin Zijleman of her album from 2015 'Have You In My Wilderness'. What I've read on her, she is in the avant-garde niche of music. Listening to Evening Mood however, I hear a kind of ballad, that does leave well trodden paths, yet is of a tremendous beauty. Expect a relaxed mood, interspersed with numerous, small eruptions of musical flurries, multiple vocals and unsuspected corners where one would not expect the song to go, without leaving the chord progression. Sounds can come up from everywhere and from all sorts of instruments. It results in a musical adventure Julia Holter takes listeners on, where most likely even after multiple sessions new aspects to Evening Mood will be discovered. The fretless bass gives the song a jazzy undertone, woodwinds a more classical feel, while her singing even brings a pop feel to the whole. With a length of over six minutes Evening Mood is a bit long. That's all on the complaint side though from me. Intriguing song.

I'm Waiting For My Man. Keith Richards 

Lou Reed's The Velvet Underground song about his forays into the dark spots of NYC to score a hit takes an important place on the band's debut album. He is honoured with a tribute album 'The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed'. The album features this song by Keith Richards. At 80 he shows he still has a rock and roll heart. Oddly enough, this may be the ultimate song by Keith where singing is concerned. I have never heard him sing so strong and straightforward. The vocal melody totally fits his voice as if Lou had written it with Keith Richard's in mind. The song has numerous guitar overdubs, that make it come alive in a different way than the original. That slices through a listener like a knife in a dark alley. Keith's version is a ball in the park, while still leaving enough of the original alive. The song has that drive it needs, while at the same time Keith does not have to wait for anybody any more. Together with the other musicians he delivers. A worthy tribute.

Common Blue. Warpaint

And again a beautiful single by Warpaint. Common Blue commemorates the fact that the band started 20 years ago. Time flies when you have fun while working hard. Theresa Wayman (vocals, guitar), Emily Kokal (vocals, guitar), Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass, vocals) and Stella Mozgawa (drums) have been around the world a few times by now and have built an oeuvre to be proud of. Common Blue does not add so much new to Warpaints' output, as that it deepens the sound with a more direct way of playing. The dreamy element is there, but all the instruments somehow are more prominently present. They do not disappear underneath the sugarcoating synths the band is so good at adding to its sound. The guitar chord progression that started the song, is there for the whole of the way. Just like a clear bass and drums. The dreaming is fully in the vocals and the keyboards that come in every once in a while. The mix is just right. I can listen to Common Blue all day.

Time. Dog Park

The coincidental selection of this post has brought Warpaint's single together with Dog Park's. They fit very well together. If the rest of the band's music sounds like this, I'd suggest a support slot for the European tour! This song is my introduction to the band and to its label, Géographie from Paris. Dog Park is a new band from Paris, about to release its first album, 'Festina Lente' on 19 April. Erica Ashleson, Isabella Cantani, Sarah Pitet and Jean Duffour met at a show in between lockdowns and decided to start making music together. After two singles in 2022 and 2023 it's time for the real thing. Time is a song that is somewhere in between dreampop and indie rock. The song is in a mid tempo but with little edges from all instruments that keep the listener on his/her toes the whole of the time. The verses have the right accents, while the chorus presents a nice turn without being obvious. No, Time and Dog park are not the future of rock and roll, but certainly a very good step in the right direction. I certainly want to hear more soon.

Don't Be Crass. Hannah Everingham

Hannah Everingham is from New Zealand or Aotearoa as they call it. How else then but through the Flying Nun newsletter did I learn about this single from Everingham's latest album 'Siempre Tiene Flores'? The song is something different. In what way?, you might ask. Well, Everingham dares to make this song all about the story she wants to tell. The music is just some basic percussion, an acoustic bass and a plucked guitar lay down the rhythm. Just the same few notes go round and round for the whole of Don't Be Crass. Add a little atmospherics and keys at the emotional highlight of the song -I won't give it away, that would be spoiling it- and that is all there is to make Don't Be Crass a successful song. It's even a little jazzy. Hannah Everingham shares the fun she had in making and singing this song with us for the whole of the way. This includes making the video. In her way of singing I can put her in a line with several New Zealand singers. It is in the music she sets herself apart.

Whiskey In The Jar. Stop Calling Me Frank

Boston's Stop Calling Me Frank takes on the famous song Whiskey In The Jar. My first version was Thin Lizzy's single a long, long time ago. Here the classic rock is taken out of the mix, not in the least by the lead instrument, Terry O'Malley's saxophone. Not the instrument I associate with an Irish traditional. This version works extremely well though. For two additional reasons. Singer's Lennie Donohue's voice seems to have been tailored through wear and tear of the years to sing Whiskey In The Jar successfully. It has that rough edge it needs to be convincing and is able to lay the right amount of emotion and surprise in the song the lyrics need. The second is that the band plays the song on the basis of an acoustic guitar that gives it a rock angle while sounding light at the same time. Whiskey In The Jar is a strong song, there's no denying there. Stop Calling Me Frank has made it an even stronger one and that is a compliment. Rum Bar Records has released the song on a compilation of whiskey and bar songs. Check it out on Bandcamp and name your price,

Soul-Net. DIIV

The musical pace in this post on recent singles goes down and not a little. DIIV takes its time on Soul-Net. This slow indie-psych-ballad-rock song is like a giant in slow motion, just before he topples over in a cartoon movie. DIIV doesn't trip. It does everything right. The song captures me and surrounds me with warm, soft lapping water. Soothing me, caressing me, so there's no need to go anywhere else. Zachary Cole Smith's voice is the cherry on this soft cake. Multi-tracked, he is everywhere. I love that slow bass propping the song up. And, then there are the estranging sounds in and around the solo. Some shoegazing is no stranger to DIIV, as this part of Soul-Net shows. The long instrumental part at the end of the video is boring, I'm not going to lie here. All that came before is excellent.

I've Seen The Future. Seeroy

Another release on Fons Records from Belgium. Seeroy is Joris Vergaert from Ghent, who debutes as Seeroy with the single I've Seen The Future. Again, a slow song but far more empty than DIIV's 'Soul-Net', just above here. Seeroy reminds me a little of The LVE and then add a little soul music to mix. No horns, huge drums nor bass. No, I've Seen The Future is a bare song but with an undeniable soul feel. Just listen to that enormously tasteful guitar solo. The future Seeroy has seen is clearly very private. He has "been looking up, waiting for a sign, or something to come down". In his way of singing I'm reminded of EELS, but musically Seeroy speaks more to me than EELS usually does. Perhaps the European vibe is easier to digest for me? Again I hear the solo and simply drift away.

Strange World. La Luz

After the likes of Warpaint and Dog Park La Luz returns to the blog with another rather dreamy song that however opens as a heavy metal song from 1968. The loud and strong guitar riff opening Strange World totally puts the listener on the wrong foot. All of a sudden the guitar drops away. Just when I had started to get in its stride. Just before the song "really starts". Enter the dreamy way of singing matching the other bands mentioned just now. In the mid section things change again, as La Luz goes for a totally estranging sequence, like The Beatles started doing on 'Sgt. Peppers', setting the standard. The result is a song that is everywhere and yet has this strong, if strange focus. La Luz currently is only founding member and songwriter Shauna Cleveland. All other members are gone already or have gone after recording the upcoming new album 'News Of The Universe', out on 24 May. Cleveland before recording the new album has gone through a period of very mixed and undoubtedly extreme emotions in her personal life. Perhaps this explains the way Strange World meanders through different sequences. Concluding, Strange World remains more stronger than stranger.

Wout de Natris

iii. Mooon

In 2017 Mooon found its first and only entry on this blog. 'Mooon's Brew' was an album that yours truly indicated to like a lot. Apparently, there is a second album, that I've missed, as this album is called iii. Based on 'Mooon's  Brew' and iii this must be a shame.

On its new album Mooon dives deeper into the mid-60s sound but also has shed a truckload of the influences I've mentioned in my review of its debut album. The number of bands mentioned as influences there was as long as the road to Rome is long. What I notice foremost is that the band is even more authentic in sound than before. Whether the band emulates 60s pop like The Monkees or even Zoeterwoude's own The Shoes or rocks somewhere between Traffic and The Velvet Underground, the sound is as if it was recorded in 1966. An important year, that can be seen as a break with the past in many ways. (See e.g. Jon Savage's '1966. The Year The Decade Broke'.)

What is different, that today nearly all recording artists are better musicians than most 60s acts ever were at the time. There is so much more to learn from and from a much earlier age. Exceptions allowed for of course. In favour of the "oldies" stands that they've invented it all. Without them this music would not exist. This generation of musicians is slowly fading from this earth and that brings me to the cover art. The question is, does this fact make iii's cover art symbolic for the 1960s generation fading away, or for the fact that a new generation is stepping into the world to take over the good work?

When Mooon really goes at it, The Who comes around. Several of the up tempo rock songs are fuelled by Pete Townsend inspired riffing. In 2024 this is still wild and exciting, to borrow Earth & Fire's song title from 1970. 'I Will Get Through' is an example. It has 'Tommy' like riffs, an opening chord on the guitar that I can see Pete Townsend windmilling, and soft interludes, yet has short raging guitar solo outbursts like Adrian Gurwitz could play and here in NL in Zen's 'Hair' single and Boudewijn de Groot's band Tower in 'In My Life'. The result is like Earth & Fire's single 'Wild And Exciting'.

Press photo

In 2017 I ask a question that still holds seven years later. What makes young people play music from the time of their grandparents? I truly do not know, except that in my, ageing, ears, this music sounds multiple times more exciting than most of the music I'm hearing today.

Mooon in a way lives in the past. This music is not from 2024 but is a translation of what came before into today. The sounds you hear on iii are all very authentic. That sets Mooon apart from a lot of the psychrockers of this century. There are less modern influences involved here. Mooon is like palaeontologists, recreating what once was as accurately as possible. Or, better, the video artist making the image after the bones of a dinosaur were assembled in the right order.

You will not here me complaining. Even the ballad 'If Only I Knew' goes down well. What I do arrive at, is that the band seems to take a certain song as an example, to then create its own variation, sometimes lending a familiar riff or chord progression, coming very close to the example. However, it is all done in great taste and with obvious love for the original song and artists. Take 'Living In The Night'. It has 'Gloria' spelled all over it, yet is very different. And, yes, exciting.

Anyone with a love for psychedelic rock and pop from circa 1966 ought to know enough. It does not come a lot better in my book.

Wout de Natris

You can order iii here:

https://excelsior-recordings.com/products/mooon-iii

Alma. Habitants

Habitants debuted on this blog with its beautiful single 'Codfishing' earlier this year. Today the album receives the attention it deserves. Alma is the album one would expect after listening to 'Codfishing'. It takes the listener on a trip where dreams are revisited time and again. The music as it were allows you to lay down on it and float on it like you would in the Dead Sea's water. You slowly float along all the musical views and highlights while the only thing you as listener have to do is close your eyes, relax and enjoy.

Habitants is the band founded by The Gathering guitarist and producer René Rutten, with singer Anne van den Hoogen, guitarist Gema Pérez, bassist Mirte Heutmekers and drummer Jerôme Miedendorp de Bie. They have released one previous album, 'One Self' in 2018 that passed me by. The Gathering can be found in my record collection, with cds from decades ago by now. Singer Anne van den Hoogen is found there as well as singer-songwriter Rosemary & Garlic. She described her 2023 album 'A Room Of One's Own' as follows:  “If you put on the music, I would hope that it would stop you somewhere in your tracks for just a second, just to feel some comfort and some kind of beauty.” This quote says it all for Alma as well.

The dreamy, if not trippy music on Alma truly lets a listener drift away. Close your eyes, just listen to the music on your headphones and you are gone from everything bothering you on this earth. Habitants will draw you into its musical world and only ejects you at the end of Alma, with a clear invitation to join for another ride.

Escapism is nice for a while but not a sustainable model for any one in the long run. Habitants is not guilty of that. What the band does, is offer some comfort and support in hard times and happy times. It invites all to join this trip. The band works hard to provide you with all this.

Promo photo

The music presented deserves the name symphonic rock, laced with elements containing both dreamy triphop ballads and huge rock, like in 'If I Knew' where the band really lets it rip at the end. Fairytales is the final addition I would opt for. The music is what I would expect to be played while a character walks through the woods or another adventure in a fairytale. Ethereal, dreamlike are the vocals of Van den Hoogen, just like the music accompanying her - and standing on its own. Most songs are drawn out, in the sense that chord progressions are slow, stretched out, making use of the surprise experience when the chord does change. Yet, never without overdoing it, making a song boring. Habitants knows how to keep up suspense in the right way.

I have not found an explanation for the album title, Alma. Usually, Alma refers to Alma Mahler, who has been a muse (and wife or lover) for several important men. The woman on the cover could be her though.

The hand of René Rutten is clearly present in Habitants. The references to his other band The Gathering can be heard in the dreamy rock sequences, where with a little imagination it's possible to hear Anke van Giersbergen singing the parts. The differences are larger though. Habitants explores the triphop side of its music extensively and manages to combine it with its symphonic rock side quite successfully, resulting in a song like 'The Waiting Room' and album opener 'Highways' where the two become fully intertwined.

With Alma Habitants has made an album that should draw a lot of attention from lovers of different kinds of music. In 2024 I so far have not heard anything like it better. Belgium project Haze comes close with its mini album 'Out Of Sight'. Habitants leads the pack though.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Alma here:

https://habitantsband.bandcamp.com/album/alma

Great Doubt. Astrid Sonne

De Deense muzikante Astrid Sonne maakte in het verleden instrumentale en behoorlijk experimentele muziek, die ze nu op fascinerende wijze combineert met haar stem en wat conventionelere songs.

Met name de alternatieve Amerikaanse muziekpers was recentelijk heel enthousiast over Great Doubt van Astrid Sonne. De tegenwoordig vanuit Londen opererende Deense muzikante heeft een verleden in wat experimentelere instrumentale muziek, waarin ze uiteenlopende invloeden verwerkte. Al die invloeden komen ook voorbij op Great Doubt, maar Astrid Sonne combineert ze dit keer met haar bijzonder mooie stem. De songs van de Deense muzikante zijn ook wel iets toegankelijker geworden, maar de songs op Great Doubt zijn nog altijd volgestopt met wonderschone klanken en bijzondere wendingen, waardoor dit zeker geen doorsnee maar wel een heel mooi singer-songwriter album is.

Astrid Sonne is een Deense muzikante die in het verleden instrumentale en over het algemeen behoorlijk experimentele muziek maakte. Het is muziek die afwisselend in de hokjes chamber pop, elektronica en neoklassiek past en die het de luisteraar wat mij betreft meestal niet makkelijk maakt. Ik heb het wel even geprobeerd met de eerste twee albums van de Deense muzikante, die volgens haar bandcamp pagina momenteel in Londen woont, maar werd er buiten een aantal hele mooie passages vooral heel onrustig van.

Op het deze week verschenen Great Doubt gooit Astrid Sonne het over een andere boeg, wat overigens zeker niet betekent dat ze alle schepen achter zich heeft verbrand. Great Doubt opent met een neoklassieke ouverture van fluit en viool, maar in de tweede track domineren in eerste instantie verrassend stevig aangezette en vooral organisch klinkende beats. Deze beats worden gecombineerd met de mooie stem van Astrid Sonne, waarna in een later stadium viool en piano worden toegevoegd.

De muziek van Astrid Sonne is op Great Doubt nog altijd behoorlijk experimenteel, maar omdat ze kiest voor zang en zich bovendien grotendeels beweegt binnen de kaders van een song met een kop en een staart, is het een stuk toegankelijker dan de muziek die de Deense muzikante in het verleden maakte. Ik hou normaal gesproken wel van lekker in het gehoor liggende singer-songwriter muziek, maar ook de wat complexere muziek van Astrid Sonne overtuigt me makkelijk.

Great Doubt is een ander album dan de twee vorige albums van de muzikante uit Londen, maar houdt op hetzelfde moment vast aan de invloeden uit de chamber pop, de elektronica en de neoklassieke muziek. Het is niet moeilijk om je voor te stellen hoe de songs van Astrid Sonne zouden klinken zonder zang, maar deze zang heeft wat mij betreft duidelijke meerwaarde.

Dat de songs van Astrid Sonne ook zonder zang overeind zouden blijven zegt wel iets over het niveau van de muziek op het album. Great Doubt combineert strijkers, blazers, piano en elektronica op prachtig wijze met beats en doet dit op een manier die de fantasie uitvoerig prikkelt. Met de term beats doe je de muziek van Astrid Sonne nog wel wat te kort, want er zit geweldig drumwerk onder.

Dit soort muziek combineren met zang zou in veel gevallen waarschijnlijk gekunsteld klinken, maar bij Astrid Sonne vallen alle puzzelstukjes op bijzondere wijze in elkaar. De muzikante uit Londen beschikt niet alleen over een hele mooie stem, maar zingt ook op bijzondere wijze, wat de muziek op Great Doubt voorziet van een ontspannen sfeer. Met een kleine 27 minuten muziek is het nieuwe album van Astrid Sonne wel wat aan de korte kant, maar in die 27 minuten gebeurt er veel meer dan op een gemiddeld singer-songwriter album.

Great Doubt is een album dat je meerdere keren moet horen, want bij eerste beluistering overheerst, in ieder geval bij mij, de verbazing. Ik was er op voorhand niet zeker van dat ik Great Doubt na een paar keer horen nog steeds mooi zou vinden, maar vooralsnog wordt het nieuwe album van Astrid Sonne alleen maar mooier. Het is razend knap hoe de totaal verschillende en in een aantal gevallen zelfs tegenstrijdige lagen in de muziek van Astrid Sonne samen komen en elkaar zelfs versterken. Lichte kost is het zeker niet, maar geef dit album de tijd en je krijgt er veel moois voor terug.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Great Doubt hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://astridsonne.bandcamp.com/album/great-doubt

Video Days. Cape Sleep

Cape Sleep is het nieuwe project van de Nederlandse muzikant Kim Janssen, die eerder indruk maakte met fraaie singer-songwriters albums en dat nu doet met een bont gekleurde, tijdloze en razend knappe popplaat.

Cousins, het derde album van singer-songwriter Kim Janssen, is al bijna zeven jaar oud en dus werd het wel weer eens tijd voor een nieuw album. De Nederlandse muzikant duikt deze week op met zijn nieuwe project Cape Sleep en levert met Video Days een geweldig album af. Het is dit keer geen singer-songwriter album geworden, maar een (fantasie)rijk ingekleurd popalbum. Kim Janssen sleept er, bijgestaan door een waslijst aan gastmuzikanten, van alles bij op zijn nieuwe album en maakt uit vele lagen bestaande muziek die aan van alles en nog wat doet denken maar uiteindelijk nergens echt op lijkt. Het is een album dat genadeloos vermaakt, continu verrast en vaak verbaast. Kim Janssen overtreft zichzelf met Video Days van Cape Sleep en dat zegt wat.

De Nederlandse singer-songwriter Kim Janssen maakte met The Truth Is, I Am Always Responsible uit 2009 en Ancient Crime uit 2012 twee behoorlijk ingetogen singer-songwriter albums, die terecht konden rekenen op zeer positieve recensies van de Nederlandse muziekpers. Het waren zeker geen dertien in een dozijn singer-songwriter albums, want de in Azië opgegroeide Kim Janssen voegde hier en daar fraaie klassieke orkestraties toe aan zijn songs.

Deze bijzondere orkestraties waren nog wat nadrukkelijker aanwezig op het in 2017 verschenen Cousins, waarop een voller en ook met elektronica verrijkt bandgeluid was te horen. Het bij vlagen sprookjesachtige geluid deed af en toe denken aan de muziek van Sigur Rós, wat mede de verdienste was van de bijdrage van de arrangeur Erikur Orri Ólaffson, die ook werkte met de IJslandse band.

De afgelopen jaren was het helaas stil rond Kim Janssen, maar deze week keert hij terug met een nieuw project, Cape Sleep. Met het debuutalbum van Cape Sleep slaat Kim Janssen weer net wat andere wegen in. Video Days laat een nog uitbundiger, met meer synths ingekleurd en ook wat meer pop georiënteerd geluid horen dan op zijn vorige album, al keren een aantal ingrediënten van dat album terug op het eerste album van Cape Sleep.

Ook op Video Days zijn immers fraaie orkestraties te horen, waarvoor het Metropole Orkest en het Berlijnse orkest Stargaze werden ingeschakeld en waarvoor bovendien een beroep werd gedaan door de onder andere van Father John Misty bekende Paul Jacob Cartwright. De fraaie orkestraties voegen een extra dimensie toe aan de songs op Video Days, waaraan ook werd bijgedragen door onder andere Marien Dorleijn van Moss, toetsenist Roy van Roosendaal, de harp van Remy van Kesteren en zangeressen Ella van der Woude en Tessa Douwstra. Ook de mooie stem van Kim Janssen zorgt voor een bekend ingrediënt op Video Days, al zijn de vocalen wel wat meer uitgesproken dan op zijn soloalbums.

Nieuw in de muziek van Cape Sleep zijn de invloeden uit de jaren 70 singer-songwriter pop en de meer elektronisch getinte popmuziek uit de jaren 80, die op bijzondere wijze combineren met de mooie songs van Kim Janssen, met de bijzondere orkestraties en met de sprookjesachtige momenten. Ook invloeden uit andere decennia hebben overigens hun weg gevonden naar het bonte geluid op Video Days, dat op een of andere manier vertrouwd klinkt, zonder dat je er echt de vinger op kunt leggen.

Video Days van Cape Sleep is ver verwijderd van de eerste twee soloalbum van Kim Jansen, maar ze delen een bijzondere schoonheid, die ook was te horen op Cousins. Net als op Cousins bestaat de muziek van Cape Sleep op Video Days uit meerdere lagen, die allemaal iets toevoegen aan het bijzondere geluid op het album. Luister maar eens hoe er opeens een pedal steel opduikt vanuit de wolken synths en dit is maar een van talloze voorbeelden.

De albums van Kim Janssen zijn altijd aan de korte kant geweest en ook Video Days telt nog geen dertig minuten. Met name de vroege albums van de Nederlandse muzikant werden na een aantal songs wel wat eenvormig, maar het debuutalbum van Cape Sleep had van mij best twee keer zo lang mogen duren. Of drie keer zo lang, want de wereld lijkt echt een beetje mooier als Video Days uit de speakers komt.

Kim Janssen bewees al eerder dat hij over heel veel talent beschikt, maar met Video Days zet hij nog een aantal extra stappen. Het levert een in muzikaal, vocaal en compositorisch hoogstaand album op dat ongelooflijk veel mooist heeft verstopt in een klein half uur muziek. 2023 was een prachtig jaar voor de Nederlandse popmuziek en mede dankzij Cape Sleep ligt de lat ook in 2024 weer torenhoog.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Video Days hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://snowstar.bandcamp.com/album/video-days

Industrial Consistency. Admiral Drowsy

De Nieuw-Zeelandse muzikant Luke Redfern Scott maakt als Admiral Drowsy hele bijzondere muziek, die zich nauwelijks laat vangen in hokjes en woorden en garant staat voor een fascinerende luisterervaring.

De Nieuw-Zeelandse muziekscene is er een die zich deels onafhankelijk ontwikkeld van de muziekscenes aan de andere kant van de wereld. Dat levert zo nu en dan albums op die totaal anders klinken dan albums uit Europa of de VS. Industrial Consistency van Admiral Drowsy is zo’n album. De muzikant uit Lyttelton laat zich deels beïnvloeden door Britse folk, maar voorziet zijn songs vervolgens van fascinerende klanken. Het zijn over het algemeen donkere en dreigende klanken, wat het album voorziet van een hele bijzondere sfeer. Het is absoluut even wennen aan dit album, maar eenmaal gewend wordt Industrial Consistency echt mooier en mooier.

De uitstekende nieuwsbrief van de Nieuw-Zeelandse muziekwinkel Flying Out Records leverde me ook nu weer een uitstekende tip op. De meeste muziek uit Nieuw-Zeeland die ik tegen kom in deze nieuwsbrief overtuigt me vrijwel onmiddellijk, maar dat was deze week anders. Industrial Consistency van Admiral Drowsy is immers zeker geen makkelijk album en het is bovendien een album dat in een aantal tracks behoorlijk zwaar op de maag ligt. Het tweede album van de muzikant uit het Nieuw-Zeelandse Lyttelton intrigeerde me echter wel onmiddellijk en na wat doorbijten vind ik het inmiddels een uitstekend album.

Admiral Drowsy is het alter ego van muzikant Luke Redfern Scott, die in 2021 debuteerde met het album The Gutter Boy Spectates. Dat album is me destijds niet opgevallen in de nieuwsbrief van Flying Out Records, maar over Industrial Consistency schrijft de muziekwinkel uit Auckland het volgende: “Industrial Consistency adds new colours to the Admiral Drowsy palette, with the label teasing layers of analog synthesisers, down tuned guitars and also touching on long form soundscapes and drones". Keep your fidelity low, and your heads high, and tune into the sounds drifting up from the harbours and hills of Lyttelton.” Het maakte me op zijn minst nieuwsgierig naar de muziek van Admiral Drowsy en die nieuwsgierigheid werd beloond.

Luke Redfern Scott heeft besloten om een flink hoge drempel op te werpen, want Industrial Consistency opent zwaar en donker. In de korte openingstrack worden duistere klanken gecombineerd met de karakteristieke stem van de muzikant uit Lyttelton, die heel in de verte iets heeft van Peter Gabriel. Na de openingstrack die doet uitzien naar meer, trakteert Admiral Drowsy ons echter ruim acht minuten lang op aardedonkere klanken en drones en uiteindelijk ontspoort de postrock achtige en bij vlagen jazzy track volledig met scheurende saxofoons. Absoluut intrigerend, maar nog zo’n track en ik was afgehaakt.

Vanaf dat moment wordt Industrial Consistency echter prachtig. Admiral Drowsy gaat verder met een folky track die wordt verrijkt met fraaie soundscapes en de bijzondere stem van Luke Redfern Scott, waarna ook nog eens bijzondere elektronische impulsen opduiken. De zang is hier en daar wat theatraal, maar dat past uitstekend bij de bijzondere inkleuring van de song. Vanaf dat moment volgen de memorabele songs elkaar in rap tempo op.

Steeds weer verrast Admiral Drowsy met bijzondere klanken, complexe songstructuren en de soms wat hoge zang. Heel af en toe heb ik associaties met Gavin Friday, maar over het algemeen genomen maakt Admiral Drowsy muziek met een duidelijk eigen geluid. Het is donker, dreigend en hier en daar wat theatraal, maar wanneer je eenmaal de schoonheid hebt ontdekt in de muziek van Luke Redfern Scott, die zich in vrijwel alle tracks laat beïnvloeden door Britse folk, laat dit album je maar moeilijk los.

De niet erg toegankelijke tweede track had misschien beter gepast aan het einde van het album, maar verder heb ik niets aan te merken op dit album dat duidelijk anders klinkt dan de meeste andere albums die momenteel worden gemaakt, iets dat je wel vaker hoort op albums die aan het andere eind van de wereld worden gemaakt. Het is zeker niet de makkelijkste tip die ik de laatste jaren van Flying Out Records heb gekregen, maar het is wel een hele bijzondere.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Industrial Consistency hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://admiraldrowsy1.bandcamp.com/album/industrial-consistency

.NoWordsNeedeD, 23 March 2024

 

Nightingale - YouTube

.No

Weird Faith. Madi Diaz

Madi Diaz kiest op haar albums telkens weer voor een ander geluid en verruilt de rootsmuziek nu voor de indiepop en de indierock, wat overigens wederom een in kwalitatief opzicht hoogstaand album oplevert.

Even was er bij mij de teleurstelling dat Madi Diaz de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek van het indringende breakup album History Of A Feeling al weer achter zich heeft gelaten, maar ook het nieuwe album van de Amerikaanse muzikante is weer prachtig. Weird Faith zoekt de aansluiting bij de indiepop en indierock van het moment, met hier en daar een vleugje Americana. Het is een genre waarin de concurrentie moordend is, maar het nieuwe album van Madi Diaz ademt kwaliteit. De zang van de singer-songwriter uit Los Angeles is prachtig, de instrumentatie en productie van het album zijn al even mooi en de persoonlijke songs van Madi Diaz springen er stuk voor stuk in positieve zin uit. Fantastisch album.

De Amerikaanse singer-songwriter Madi Diaz imponeerde in de zomer van 2021 met het wonderschone en ontroerende breakup album History Of A Feeling. Het is een album dat flink verschilde van haar eerdere albums, waarop de muzikante uit Los Angeles afwisselend koos voor gepolijste countrypop, radiovriendelijke rock en zwaar elektronisch ingekleurde pop. Op History Of A Feeling koos de Amerikaanse singer-songwriter, die werd opgeleid aan het prestigieuze Berklee College Of Music, echter vooral voor de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek.

Het leverde een bijzonder album op dat van lading werd voorzien door het op de klippen lopen van haar relatie. Zeker wanneer de woede het tijdelijk won van het verdriet schuwde Madi Diaz de voorzichtige gitaaruitbarstingen niet, wat het album voorzag van veel dynamiek en van een ruw karakter. Die dynamiek en dat ruwe karakter werden prachtig vastgelegd door de vooral van Big Thief bekende producer Andrew Sarlo, die het beste in Madi Diaz naar boven wist te halen.

Iedereen die het oeuvre van Madi Diaz kent weet inmiddels dat ze op ieder nieuw album weer een totaal andere afslag kan nemen en dat doet ze dan ook op het deze week verschenen Weird Faith. Wat mij betreft had de Amerikaanse muzikante de lijn van History Of A Feeling nog even door mogen trekken, want dat album smaakte naar veel meer. Dat lag voor Madi Diaz kennelijk anders, want invloeden uit de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek hebben op Weird Faith weer een flinke stap terug gedaan en hebben plaats gemaakt voor invloeden uit de indiepop en de indierock.

Madi Diaz werkt op haar nieuwe album samen met producers Sam Cohen (Andrew Combs, Kevin Morby, Emily King) en Konrad Snyder, die ik alleen ken van het in Nederland helaas tussen wal en schip gevallen album van Joy Oladokun. De twee producers hebben het album voorzien van een wat gepolijstere productie dan die van Andrew Sarlo op het vorige album, maar ik vind het wel een zeer smaakvolle productie. Het is een productie die kwaliteit ademt en dat doet Weird Faith eigenlijk in alle opzichten.

Madi Diaz beschikt over een mooie en herkenbare stem en vertolkt haar songs met veel gevoel, zeker wanneer nare of juist mooie ervaringen centraal staan in haar songs. Ze kan met kracht en urgentie zingen, maar ook mooi en fluisterzacht. Die dynamiek komt terug in de muziek op het album, die de uitersten niet zo vaak opzoekt als op het vorige album, maar er valt genoeg te beleven op het even mooi als aangenaam klinkende album.

Madi Diaz kon met haar vorige album mee met de besten binnen de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek en zoekt nu aansluiting bij de top in de indierock en indiepop, al zijn invloeden uit de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek zeker niet helemaal verdwenen. Bij beluistering van Weird Faith moet ik met enige regelmaat denken aan het album van boygenius, wat iets zegt over de veelzijdigheid van Madi Diaz, maar ook over het talent van de muzikante uit Los Angeles, die haar songs ook dit keer vertolkt met hart en ziel.

In een van de tracks komt Kacey Musgraves (volgende maand verschijnt haar nieuwe album) opdraven voor een bijzonder fraai duet, maar Madi Diaz houdt zich ook in haar eentje heel makkelijk staande. Ook Weird Faith is weer een stap in een andere richting voor Madi Diaz, maar het is wat mij betreft ook weer een flinke stap vooruit.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Weird Faith hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://madidiaz.bandcamp.com/album/weird-faith

2024. Week 12, 10 singles

Week 12 of 2024 brings a lot of singles that I can not describe as your usual pop song. Actually, you will find quite some weird shit to explore, to put it mildly. The order of the singles presentation is random, as my inbox and other sources determine the order of this post. Coincidence has brought this lot together. Most names are, almost, new to this blog, giving you the opportunity to explore, so, enjoy!

Another Day Another Time. The Third Sound

On the day that Wet Leg debuted on this blog with 'Chaise Longue', The Third Sound also did with 'Your Love Is Evol'. Admittedly, I have less recollection of the latter single. What I read is that it is a psychedelic song with little patient for subtlety. This is totally different for the band's latest single, Another Day Another Time, a song from its upcoming album 'Most Perfect Solitude' (26 April). The sus4 and 2 chords are all over the place, creating those fine little melodies around chords, simply by adding or lifting a finger. The band from Berlin, led by Icelander Hakon Adalsteinsson, has a clear love for 60s psychedelic rock. The vocals are muted as it were. The keyboards have that floating feel over them. The song as a whole is totally trippy. At the same time the music has this pleasant pop feel. The singing could have been lifted from a postpunk doom band from the early 80s. The combination works in a most pleasant way.

Tejano Blues. Cigarettes After Sex

Cigarettes After Sex? No thank you, I stopped at least two decades ago. The band name rings the faintest of bells but not more than that. At the same time I read the band plays the Ziggo Dome, the largest indoor venue of this country, in October. So, it must be me. I am listening to a song that is so soft, modest, small, it is very easy to miss. Tejano Blues is an artist at his/her most vulnerable. Stop listening and it's no longer there, if people talk through it, it's gone and during shows with the Dutch disease, I don't even want to contemplate the effect on the music. The music and voice sound like they were recorded in a large hall with the vibes of the song returning through different mikes, creating an endless echo. The atmosphere of this vulnerable song is excellent, creating exactly the right mood.

Felt. Kee Avil

Do aliens exist? And if so, do they make music? While listening to Felt for the first time, I'm posed to answer: yes! Kee Avil seems to come from outer space. Felt does sound as strange as I've ever heard. Remember that episode from the original 'Star Trek' series, where they have a party and dance? The music was as strange as they could imagine circa 1968. Enter Kee Avil. This music can be put in the re-run of the series. This music is as strange as it gets. Her small guitar riff that opens Felt and returns throughout, borders beyond dissonant, the bass note is off. What sounds regular, is her voice that sings hesitantly, somewhere between a whisper and talking. The album 'Spine', which will be released on 3 May, is announced as "a stunner of a record that stands on its own, a bracing and thrilling listen". For one, on the basis of Felt I'm sure that as a minimum it will be an experience.

Mount Fuji. Sarah Julia

Sarah Julia is a duo, sisters Sarah and Julia Nauta from Amsterdam. They sing about the famous mountain near Tokyo, that I saw from several directions in October last year. This fact made me want to listen to the song already and I'm glad I did. The sisters present a beautiful and serious ballad. The acoustic guitar lays the bottom of the track, a cello is the lead instrument. There's more, but you can listen to that yourself. Over a sober orchestration the two sisters sing their tale. They take their time. It's like two old people climbing the mountain, slowly but surely getting to the top. In this same slow but sure style Sarah Julia delivers its song. I notice an association with Chantal Acda and the latest solo album of The Walkabouts' Chris Eckman. A story that has to be sung, no matter what. Mount Fuji is a part of the EP 'How Do We Go Back To Being Normal?', released on 10 April.

Ears Were Growing.  Dana Gavanski

Ears Were Growing is a weirder kind of pop single. Expect the unexpected in a pop song and you may hear what I hear. This is a weird but fun song, worth listening to, repeatedly and when I let go, like Dana Gavanski sings here, I may even start singing along at some point. Dana Gavanski was on this blog before, in 2020 when Erwin Zijleman wrote a post on her debut album 'Yesterday Is Gone'. He wrote that he was surprised by what he heard, after having read the bio. I wonder what he thinks of Ears Were Growing, as this has nothing to do with singer-songwriter music. Ears Were Growing is full of keyboards and a weird rhythm. It's almost like one of those extreme and small, yet fairly hard bouncing balls that once thrown could destroy anything in a living room. I hear a little Wet Leg in the song, yet slightly, only slightly, less exuberant. Will 'Late Slap', out on 5 April, be as surprising? In a few weeks we know.

Word Eaters. Yosa Peit

Can we go weirder than Kee Evil? I did not expect so, at least today. Yosa Peit is competing though. Is World Eaters a song? Let me answer that question first. I do tend to answer yes. There is a melody and a vocal melody. Underneath are totally broken rhythms, that are replaced later in the song by a loud distorted guitar that plays huge notes and power chords. The rest suggests that there may have been more but was cut out of the mix, to escape for the flimsiest of moments, in unexpected moments. Broken music could be a sufficient description. The whole does take getting used to but certainly is intriguing. Yosa Peit manages to capture my attention with the weirdest of sounds, almost beyond what I call a song. Her worldview may be as bleak as the Earth's future may be, she has enriched the lives of people who want to listen to World Eaters no little. The album, 'Gut Buster', is out on 26 April.

the mould. mui zyu

mui zyu, a Hong Kong artist living in London, like some artists preceding her in this post, plays an alternative form of pop music, that reminds me most of an album I bought in 2016 by duo Carol Cleveland Sings. Sounds that seem to have been made on children's version of synthesizers, as if it is not truly serious that is on offer. mui zyu's song is though. You can hear it in her somewhat aloofly sung vocals and the oomph in the rhythm that is added her and there to underscore the singing and music. Underneath it all, she lets all sorts of sounds meander in a playful way. Little melodies come from everywhere, the whole of the time. Nothing remains as it is, the whole of the time. In the outro, it all seems to come together and then spins out of control, totally. Before it truly can, the plug is pulled on all instruments, including the recording device it seems. the mould may be an electronic song, the pop feel is there and mui zyu manages to wrap it all into a layer of mystery. The mysteriously named album 'nothing or something to die for' is slated for 24 May.

Bodies Dissolve Tonight. Earth Tongue

It's been quiet for a few weeks where New Zealand was concerned. Earth Tongue shatters that silence with its fuzz infused rock song Bodies Dissolve Tonight. Blood Red Shoes was my first thought. The second as well, but like the girl witch Tiffany Aching, from Terry Pratchett's inimitable 'Disc World' series, taught me, always beware of that third thought whispering in the back of your head. That thought told me that Earth Tongue is more theatrical in its expression. Earth Tongue, Ezra Simons, drums and vocals & Gussie Larkin, guitar and vocals, play psych-infused rock primarily, but listen a bit more closely and what I hear is symphonic rock from the 70s and punkrock, spanning decades to make a loud landing in 2024. Bodies Dissolve Tonight is an exciting song, sizzling like the car in the video is. Quite some introduction to the upcoming album, 'Great Haunting', 24 June, this single is.

Coffee. Hinds

Coffee is not and has never been for me, but this coffee I can take every day. Hinds presents its new single as if it has never been away for four years. The atmosphere is not unlike that other song with coffee in its title, 'Coffee And TV', one my favourite Blur songs. It has this great alternative pop feel, while having credibility as an indie rock band. The Madrid duo, Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, have shed the other two members somewhere during the Covid period. Musically it does not seem to make a lot of difference. Coffee sounds like it takes Hinds no effort at all to produce a great song. The fun the video shows is also the fun that shines through the music. It is so incredibly light, in both ways. Both previous albums can be found on this blog, so thanks to Coffee I'm looking forward to number three alright.

Time. EELS

Next year it is 30 years ago Mark Oliver Everett or 'E' and his band EELS entered my life with that famous single 'Novocaine For The Soul'. Come 2024 and this ultimately small song Time is released. Playing a resonator guitar in the video, with its steely sound, the same few notes are repeated over and over and over, until there's a minor chord progression. A few instruments come in, a bass, strings, but that underscores the resigned atmosphere of Time more than enhance it. EELS is at its smallest here and yet every note is in its right place, with a maximum impact. Some songs do not need anything else of more. The only disconcerting thing is that after in the video having shown photo's of himself with his child, he sings that he has the ones he loves near but "maybe there's just some way, dear God, I can stay". Is this an ultimate message to his fans? If so, what a way to do so. In the meantime, let me share with you that the album 'EELS TIME!' is slated for 7 June.

Wout de Natris

The Red Angel EP. Canyons and Locusts

Canyons and Locusts have come by on this blog several times over past few months in the more anonymous, weekly singles post. With The Red Angel the duo releases its first EP. Six songs in the punk(rock) segment of music that deserve the full spotlight this blog can offer, and not the spot where I had expected to add the EP.

Canyons and Locusts is a duo living wide apart from each other in the U.S. It's possible to live further apart but Boston and Phoenix is stretching a musical relationship. The guitar-drums duo does not seem hampered by it in any way. It produces wild rock and roll for the 21st century, let's call it punk rock. A distorted guitar, heavily strummed, a drummer who fills in the plugs left by the wall of guitar, a voice singing with a light sneer. This is all the information you need before starting your listening session.

Singer-guitarist Justin Keane and drummer Amy Young released their first album, 'Roll The Dice' in the spring of 2022 on the Red on Red label of the late Justine Covoult. The band continued and the new EP proves this was the right decision. The Red Angel is a reference in honour of Justine's memory and her work for Boston's rock and roll community. (Besides being talented herself. Her last album with her band The Unclean, 'The Signal Light', didn't make my list of favourites of 2023 for nothing.)

The single that started this blog's relationship with Canyons and Locusts, 'To Art Bell', opens The Red Angel. In my book the song is a declaration of intent. Whoever Art Bell is/was, to have such a strong song named after you is a great honour. This is rock and roll alright. And for those who don't like punk rock, there's good news: the song is all over within 1.30 minutes. Canyons and Locusts have said all there's to say about Art Bell. This band is not hindered by conventions where the length of songs is concerned. What they play is what you get. Not a second more but certainly nothing less. What an opening song 'To Art Bell' is.

The bad news is, that it does not get better than 'To Art Bell'. The good news is that you definitely should not stop listening. With it's 'I'm So Free' chord progression intro, 'Soo All The Way' rocks even louder. On a good day, I may rank the song higher any way. It's a more conventional punkrocker, and runs just over two minutes.

The Red Angel offers four more songs. A song like 'Love Goes Down The Drain' again is so to the point. I love its directness and energy. Songs may be short but Canyons and Locusts give them its all. Just imagining having to play them live, already sets my strumming arm's muscles aflame.

13 Minutes and a little and the six songs are all over. The slower 'Donna Summer' is the one bringing the average time up. The noise and the energy in combination with the melodies take care of 13 minutes well-spent and not go by unnoticed. What a nice, energising experience The Red Angel is.

Wout de Natris

Always Hungry. Soft Boy

Label owner Niels Hendrix wrote me that after hearing the first notes of the demo by Soft Boy he knew he wanted to release the band's album. If he heard the same first notes of the first song on Always Hungry I am hearing, I'm sure a deaf person would have wanted to release it. The title song is a joy to listen to. It is so full of life, exuberance and enthusiasm. 'Always Hungry' simply bounces out of my speakers. Just this song makes buying Always Hungry worth your while.

Fans of a good alternative pop song and indie rock will find a lot to like on Soft Boy's debut album, as a band. You will find Britpop mixed with a The Doors Farfisa organ in songs that are deliciously free flowing. Soft Boy blends eras in music effortlessly, all the time showing the fun it has to present these songs in the best way it can.

Soft Boy started as the bedroom project of  Xander Hamelton, from Ghent in Belgium. He released two mini albums in this decade, 'This Took A Long Time' and 'This Took An Even Longer Time',that can be found for "name your price" on Bandcamp. Label Fons Records releases the first full length album of the band Soft Boy, with also Stan Antheunis (backing vocals guitar), Marian Coppieters (backing vocals, keys, violin), Jasper Suys (bass), Simon Dewaele (drums) on board. In single 'Gen Z', marking the band's debut on this blog, the full impact of the band is heard for 100%. The tempo is down, the individual instruments come forward in a great way. The mood is more downcast, somewhat like EELS can play its songs. But then listen to how the keyboard comes in, lifting the song up and taking the others along for a short burst of positive energy. Do not forget to notice the extra harmony vocals.

Soft Boy can rock too. 'Speak From The Heart' really goes for the underbelly of the rock fan. Fuzzed guitar, an effect on the voice, while the rest rocks out. And then that Farfisa organ comes in again, throwing a 60s vibe over it all. The same goes for the vocals in the chorus. Man, somehow it reminds me of The Tremeloes' 'Even The Bad Times Are Good'. And that while the music couldn't be more apart.

By then it's not hard to conclude that Soft Boy is not caught in one niche genre. It wants to be out there in several niches and in a successful way. Each and every song is attractive in its own way. Even when it moves into a reggae rhythm in 'St. Eve', to move into another direction within the song and come back to where it started.

Always Hungry offers something for every ear, I'm prone to write. This can be a weakness, as something for everyone can equal nothing for no one. Soft Boy does not fall into the trap. The obvious quality of nearly all of the ten songs, guarantee a fun time can be had by all. In my case, the band scores big time. Just listen towards the end of the album to 'Willow', an acoustic song. Listen to how it unfolds. Listen to the harmony vocals. I do not need to write more.

The bio self-assuredly announced that the potential reviewers could contemplate scoring the album 4 or 5 stars. It seems like Fons Records was not boasting. Soft Boy has made an impression alright. One of the better releases of 2024 for sure.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order the releases of Fons Records here:

https://fonsrecords.bandcamp.com/