Friday 7 June 2024

2024. Week 23, 10 singles

Week 23. Believe it or not, we are almost at the half of 2024. The days are tremendously long again. What is not here, not even close, is summer. Rain, clouds, and northerly winds most of the time at least. With temperatures remaining below 20 on most days and no change in sight. It's not the end of the world but I like to hope for better. Let's focus on some more music instead. It's a nice varied lot again but beware, the name Patrick Watson does come up a few times. Enjoy!

Hey, Sharon. The Wynotts

A review of The Wynotts? Why not. Hey Sharon, rocks in all the good ways. A strong melody, aahhs to sing along to, a short pointy guitar solo, nice female background vocals and a great rhythm section, with a drummer threatening to hit his kit into two. Except, this isn't new music at all. The Wynotts were a band from 2007 to 2009. On the basis of their recorded but not released music, the erstwhile members rebanded and decided to release their music anyway. With members of bands like Jerry's Kids, Underball, The Downhauls, and The Killer Abs, only The Downhauls can be found on this blog, The Wynotts obviously know how to rock hard. Hey, Sharon is that kind of track. Simply made to set every stage on fire and put the love of rock in anyone's heart.

Heartbreak For Jetlag EP. Vera Ellen

Just over a year since 'Ideal Home Noises', an album I still play regularly, New Zealand's Vera Ellen is back already with an EP. The outset is different though. She has recorded everything by herself in her "bedroom". The EP is as bare as you would expect it to be. Lo-fi however doesn't exist any more, Anyone with a bit of talent can make a great sounding album in his/her/their living room. So did Vera Ellen. She is playing her acoustic guitar and sings. From there she has added other instruments and voices. Her "Vera Ellen voice" is not there for the whole of the time. She has several voices and experiments with her voice. Some are more successful than others, granted. On average though Vera Ellen shows her considerable talent in songwriting. Even at her most bare, the songs speak volumes. For me it all proves that Vera Ellen is an artist that should gain more success soon. Maybe not on the basis of this home recording, that may be a bit too intense for the average listener, but certainly on the basis of 'Ideal Home Noises'. Those with a good ear though will hear the beauty in Heartbreak For Jetlag. Anyone not captured by 'Danger', featuring Oli Devlin, should get their ears seriously cleaned. Vera Ellen may initially not have intended to open this music up for the world, it would have been a crime not to do so. Heartbreak For Jetlag is an important piece of work for all the world to enjoy.

Oh France. Mdou Moctar

Mdou Moctar is a Nigerian band. I am nearly certain that will be a first on this blog. The song is a blend of western rock and traditional music. Oh France is rocking hard. The way it does rock is totally different from what I would normally be hearing. This band is truly standing with each foot in different ground. One in the arid sand of the Sahel, the other in western clay. The result is a hybrid killer of a song. The lyrics are about the relationship with France. It's sung in a local language. The translation on You Tube does not leave room for a lot of subtleties. The anger comes out in the music as well. Mdou Moctar cooks up a storm of notes in a way that in the West is unknown. Not the fiery way of playing. Oh France is cooking.

Help Me, I’m Spiralling/Drones. SPRINTS

With that great debut album 'Letter To Self' only on the market for five months and a relentless tour schedule in the recent past and ahead it will be a while before the world will be able to welcome a new album by Irish band SPRINTS. To kill the time in between the band released two songs recorded during the 'Black Box Sessions'. Every band that has released a killer debut, has a giant task to come up with a better one later. There are two options. The 1960s way and the "Coldplay" version. Something tells me SPRINTS can better follow The Beatles and The Stones. Hone the skills and improve fast by writing, recording and playing, all at the almost same time. On these live performances SPRINTS shows how it is honing its chops. Both songs of this session are not on the album and show an even wilder side of the band. SPRINTS plays with the brakes off and the effect pedals deeply on. The result is two raw gems that show the band at its rawest. Yes, I'm a fan.

So Desperate. Salem Wolves

Wrestling is something so far removed from my and all my friends' consciousness that I was totally amazed that my U.S. origin friends said that they were going to a wrestling event nearby. Why I'm writing this? Because wrestling is the theme So Desperate. Providence, Rhode Island's Salem Wolves will even release a whole album on wrestling later this year. Single So Desperate is driven by a strong drums. Over it the guitars can start playing like lying in a just right bed. Musically, the first band that comes to mind is Bon Jovi from the 80s. That is not the whole story though. For that So Desperate is not commercial enough. Salem Wolves is far tougher. Singer Gray Bouchard has The Decemberists' Colin Meloy's phrasing while being a friendly rock singer. I'm glad I gave So Desperate a second chance, as I notice that I like the song better with each spin. And that solo is simply heavenly.

Thick. Louisa Nicklin

Writing single posts is time consuming but also fulfilling. I get exposed to so much music that I otherwise would have missed. The downside for the artists is that many a song comes in the one ear and leaves the other. The name Louisa Nicklin did not ring any kind of bell but she was on this blog before in 2021 with a single called 'To Be Fine'. I never got around to the album it seems. Reading the review of 'To Be Fine', I notice that I could use a lot of it. The vibrato voice, the bare music with a very prominent drums and bass, the weird sounds. All check. Thick is Nicklin's first single towards her new album 'The Big Sulk', out on 23 August. Thick is an energetic song with a clear darkness over it. A song like there are not many others around and that has mostly to do with her unique (use of her) voice.  In Louisa Nicklin New Zealand has a very unique singer, once again.

Everything Turns. A Shoreline Dream feat. Mark Gardiner

My intro to the previous single is proven when checking up on A Shoreline Dream on the blog. I wrote on the same single twice, in one day! LOL. Not so with Everything Turns. Featuring Ride's Mark Gardener, A Shoreline Dream returns to the blog with a mysterious single, as if capturing Tears for Fears during a daydream. Music and singing both seem to float on a river of a soft and warm oily substance carrying them slowly but surely to the end of the song in a way as if there's no end in sight nor needed. Of course, there is a difference between the instruments and the voices but only if I pay close attention. The somewhat hypnotic music easily does away with nuances. If anything its the drums that draw attention. It's almost tribal the way they are played and the most prominent instrument because of the hypnotic synths. Thank you, Shauna, for bringing attention to the song, as I definitely missed the uniqueness of Everything Turns the first time around.

Damage. Chris Cohen

From hypnotic to jazzy music is not a huge step I notice. Chris Cohen is a new name to me but he is on this blog under Rozi Plain's review by Erwin Zijleman. Damage is a jazzy, dreamy song. In music and singing. Chris Cohen is not in a hurry, that much is clear. He has an extremely pleasant voice to listen to. The 70s West Coast singer-songwriters come to mind but Damage is a far easier song to listen to. At the same time there is an exquisite horn arrangement. Jeff Parker wrote the arrangement and Josh Johnson played several of the instruments. In a month Cohen is to release his fourth album, 'Paint A Room'. If it is only half as relaxing as Damage is, it will be an ideal late evening album to play with your love close, enjoying a late evening glass of red wine and the album together. Life can be a lot worse.

Pearl. Morpheus

Pearl is a song that could have been sent to the Eurovision Song Contest instead of winner Duncan Lawrence. It is unbelievably more beautiful, just as powerful and does not need the horrendous vocal acrobatics. He would instantly have received my douze points. Pearl is so incredibly beautiful. For several seconds I was under the impression to be listening to another modern classic piano song, until Morpheus started singing and simply one name pops up: Patrick Watson. Music isn't a competition, except for that Eurovision one, but Morpheus can compete with the Canadian easily. Pearl is a dreamy song, somewhere between electronic and analogue. Producer Thomas Azier managed to keep the balance between the two in perfect order. The piano is at its heart but there are slowly but surely all sorts of other sounds let into the mix, making it a different song. Martijn Verhagen, he is Morpheus, has released his second EP, 'The Ascent', last week. Pearl is an extremely interesting introduction.

So We Find Ourselves. Fink

If I'd received So We Find Ourselves first in my inbox, I would have added Fink to Patrick Watson in the single by Morpheus right above Fink's new single. That is three very relaxed songs in a row by the way. Also here the link to Patrick Watson is evident. Fink's music is almost more atmospheric that melodic. The music is almost cut out of the whole. His voice is extremely prominent. Behind him there are more holes then notes. There are indistinct sounds in between the piano notes, human and instruments. The result is ultimate beauty. Music can hardly be made slower than this. Fin Greenall is at his most bare here. There's no escaping, there are no cover ups when music is so empty. The result is glorious and soulful. As if Otis Redding was allowed one acoustic session after all. Something like that. I have heard many a nice and good song by Fink through the years but never like this. A big tip of the hat.

Wout de Natris

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