Posts
Feel It Change. Stella Donnelly
From the information sent with the announcement of the single Feel It Change it sounds as if Australian artist Stella Donnelly returns after a hiatus of decades. As she's only 26 that makes it a bit hard to believe. I have not heard of her before and what I'm hearing is a nice, but not spectacular single. For that the mood remains too subdued and identical. She offers a song that manages to manoeuvre successfully between lament and optimism. The tempo of the song brings forth the former, the tone of music and voice the latter. It is this contrast that makes Feel It Change not only pleasant but also interesting to listen to. The song is about longing for someone to be with her, as she can feel things change when that person is near. This feeling is captured exactly in the music and tone of the single. Well done in other words. Album 'Love And Fortune' will be released on 7 November.
Janne Schra is a household name in The Netherlands for quite some time already, yet was no part of my musical universe. A matter of taste. With her upcoming album 'Work Out' she announced a different approach to her music. What I'm hearing on her single Body Language is indeed different. The song hovers somewhere between singer-songwriter and pop. Body Language is a serious song that allows Schra to show her vocal qualities in a very relaxed way. She as it were glides over the musical accompaniment, where a piano has the lead with slow, sparkling notes. Her message is an important one: always listen to the signs your body gives you. You will be sorry if you don't, as she found out to her own detriment. The announcement of her change in music reminded me of Caro Emerald's change into The Jordan. I never found my away beyond a single. Whether Janne Schra will get beyond my liking Body Language, time will tell. Musically, this single brings Chantal Acda to mind. That may be a positive sign. The release date of Work Out is scheduled for 15 November.
Mantra is a six minutes long song. Rather daring for a new artist on route to the release of his debut album (9 January 2026). The song starts as if 'Paris, Texas' was invented only recently in a Flemish recording studio. Lone, long-held guitar notes are played with a slide, just like on Ry Cooder's famous soundtrack of Wim Wenders' movie, starting, at least in my memory, with an empty desert in which at some point a dishevelled man walks into the camera frame, played by the late Harry Dean Stanton. Raman, the band of singer-songwriter Simon Raman from Belgium, conjures up that image for me instantly. That in itself is not enough to deserve a review on this blog. The way the song is slowly but surely fleshed out is. Raman wants his listeners to be patient. He is in no hurry and neither should you be. Around 1 minute 25 he starts singing, while the song is still a subdued affair. Slowly but surely the song becomes more present and then some more again, without ever truly exploding. Every new layer adds an interesting sound, riff, rhythm. Mantra is the kind of song that wants the listener to explore it and undergo all its changes. The reward is quite satisfying I can assure you.
.%20The%20Peppermint%20Kicks.jpg)
Two men of a certain age, not young, not old, with a keen love for music from a life time ago, that describes Sal Baglio (The Amplifier Heads, The Stompers, Butcher Baglio & Estes) and Dan Kopko (The Shang Hi Los, Watts) quite well, I'd say. 'Little Doll (Picolla Pupa)' is the kind of pop-rock song that is over before you know it, just like they used to be in the hey day of the 45 RPM singles, the 1960s. The days when singles were it and albums a collection of singles and b-sides or part fillers, part covers (often of the same songs) and a few great originals. Baglio and Kopko manage to bring the best of the old days into the present and make full use of the better equipment and studio tools this day and age offers. With Little Doll (Picolla Pupa) The Peppermint Kicks provides the world with another great song in the style of the very early The Kinks and the punk rock songs that songs like 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day And All Of The Night' presaged.
From songs that influenced punk to the real thing. Radioactivity had not released a song for ten years until this single was released mid-September, announcing an upcoming new album. This is also titled Time Won't Bring Me Down and is expected on 31 October. What to expect? This single is an uptempo, stormy affair, that does not forget that the best songs carry identifiable melodies. The singer may have a voice moving towards helium induced antics, but stays well on the good side of a parody of singing. In other words no Toy Dolls here. The lead guitar plays a great melody throughout large parts of the song, while the band keeps up a rhythm that does not allow the listener to rest or look away. I had never heard of Radioactivity before but if the album is as nice as Time Won't Bring Me Down, then listening to it is going to be my pleasure.
Some more on the verge between punk and alternative rock. Lone Wolf releases a single from its upcoming album 'Dark Thoughts', 14 November. Of course this song is full of energy, but what it also is, is a song that moves away from just a punk rhythm and attack. High All The Time brings in some arranging skills, dynamics and some great, inventive guitar work. A long guitar solo is part of the song structure, some nice lead lines are played, enter a quiet part and an end that Lone Wolf can play like forever on stage, with the audience begging to sing o-o-o along one more time please. And do not forget to listen to that dirty sounding bass underneath all the exciting parts that catch the ear so much easier. High All The Time is a title that covers the musical message completely.
Juanita Stein? That name rang a bell. She can be found on this blog with two reviews by Erwin Zijleman in the previous decade. Today she returns with her old band Howling Bells, which is about to release its first album in over ten years. If Unbroken is anything to go by, it will be a pleasant experience. Unbroken is an alternative rock song with psychedelic undertones, led by the somewhat dreamy voice of Juanita Stein. It's almost as if her voice comes from somewhere else than the wobbly rhythm guitar sound and the growling guitar parts of Joel Stein. The sounds are so intriguing to listen to. The reunion of Juanita with brother and guitarist Joel and drummer Glenn Moule can be called successful, even if things remain with this one single.
It would have been easy to just skip this song and pass on reviewing it. Too Good To Go is an erratic affair. All sort of things are happening at the same time. Some too weird to understand. Some snippets of pure pop hidden somewhere in between sheer madness. "Hello hello", the single starts, but it takes quite some time to realise that the sounds I hear are all vocals in one way or another, samples are all over the place. Not to mention the overdubs. After one minute and 20 seconds instruments join the multiple voices. The rhythm remains erratic. Listening a few times did convince me that something special is happening here and that Pitou is experimenting in a grand way. Two and a half year ago I started my review of her debut album 'Big Tear' as follows: "Today a record that I am still digesting". "Some things do not change, really", to quote a bourbon commercial of decades ago as well.
.%20Stop%20Calling%20Me%20Frank.png)
Okay, one more punkrock track. But one with a difference or two. Which punk band has ever sung a song about a chain store famous for its reasonable grocery prices, rotisserie chicken and donuts? I can't name one. Musically, the band sets itself apart because of the saxophone that is prominent all throughout the short song, 1.44. Stop Calling Me Frank can be found on this blog since reforming some years ago. The band started in the 1980s, longer ago then I care to remember. With MB Anthem, shopping free for a year in return?, the band does add an energetic song to its oeuvre that will work really well in a live situation too. With just a hint of The B-52s in the song, the fun level is not forgotten. If a supermarket inspires a song like MB Anthem, I may have to visit it, should I ever be in town. Slim chance though in the short run.
We end the week on the more mellow side, WDNHF (Weidenhof)'s single Top Put Something In Its True Light. WDNHF is the solo project of High Fighter and ex-Pyogenesis drummer Thomas Wildelau. I'll be forthright immediately. Nearly all solo-albums by drummers are easily dismissed. Yes, even Phil Collins'. The more surprised I was by the pastoral sounds starting To Put Something In Its True Light. Perhaps it was all the punk rock songs in the above, that made me susceptible to the almost new age sounds coming into my ears. What perhaps aided me as well, is that I have never heard of the two bands Wildelau plays/played in. There were absolutely no preconceptions of any kind. I had expected the song to remain instrumental but it doesn't. The vocal is not the strongest part of the song. It does fit the pastoral atmosphere of the track though. WDNHF's album 'Consideration' is out. Everything you hear on it was created and played by Thomas Wildelau himself, except for one guitar solo! Another Covid record. They are still being released years after the pandemic.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
No comments:
Post a Comment