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Daydream. Lise Catherine
In 2018 as member of Feliz, from 2019 as Lizzy and after a period of silence Lise Reyners returns under the name Lise Catherine. If there was a constant in my reviewing her songs, it was the fact that so many of them showed different sides of her singer-songwriting and production skills. Lise Catherine follows that line. Daydream is a soft pop song, with a melancholy, sad undertone, as "she will never, never give her heart away again". In the accompanying foto I see Lise behind a piano. In Daydream she plays an acoustic guitar. The production around her is spacious, with atmospheric sounds, all very subtle but contributing no little to the song's texture. Around Lise's voice there are several Lise's singing background vocals, each making the song more alive and interesting. Producer Wouter Souvereyns has done an excellent job. With Daydream and as Lise Catherine, Lise Reyners leaves her modern pop side behind and has jumped into the deep end, and explores a more serious, older form of pop music. Pop music it is though, but one with layers meant to please at a far deeper level. This is just the start, as there is an album on the way in April.
Irish folk singer Lisa O'Neill has a new six song EP out in which she presents herself as a rather stern singer. Making music is an extremely serious affair on this EP. What we get in return, is music that is of extreme beauty. The story of this EP starts with Lisa O'Neill's voice. She sings in a tradition that I only know from Irish men singing. She has the female version that carries the songs. Behind her voice the acoustic guitar is most prominent. Struck loud and fierce creating strong accents. Behind that the atmosphere is created. Perhaps the best example is 'Mother Jones', a song about an Irish immigrant who organised miners into unions and was the basis for child-labour laws around 1900. The above all comes together in this song. I forgot to mention the political side of her songs, as she has her convictions and shares them with her listeners. Two singles of the EP have already been reviewed in the fall of 2025 and made an identical impression as the whole EP does. Take a listen to this EP, as The Wind Doesn't Blow This Far Right is worth it.
I've tried to understand the story on the coming together of Semi-Famous. It has something to do with a novel and bringing the band in that novel to real life. This proved to be so much fun for the band's members, that now there is a whole album. Of course this is punk rock but at the same time the music is too rich to be called simply punk. The musicians can all play, know how to arrange a song, while keeping the song as simple as needs be. And then throw in a The Beatles interlude with Social Distortion style guitars. The result is a single that is rich in a several ways. There is a long intro, I suppose The Betrayal B4 part, before The Best Treachery sets off and make things truly interesting. Album 'Not Sorry!' will be out on 10 April.
In May it will be two years ago that Jennifer Tefft & The Strange's album 'Strange Beginnings' was on this blog. After two singles it was received quite favourably. A new single has drawn my attention immediately. Jennifer Tefft has a voice to rock with and she's not afraid to share that quality with us. The Strange holds back for most of the time, resulting in a song that is an exercise of restraint in rock music. It makes for very interesting listening. Just listen how the song starts. A tightly played acoustic guitar, a wobbly lead guitar here and there. In the meantime we hear Tefft harmonising with herself. The band comes in and goes out again. A Little More is made in such a way that the music keeps surprising. Again, Jennifer Tefft & The Strange caught my attention and did not let me off the hook. A Little More soon please.
Album 'Railcard' is out already for two weeks and was a contender for a post, but lost out to Howling Bells' debut album this week unfortunately. To make amends her is the recent single, Day Dream (the second Daydream in this post!). It is a good example of what the album is all about. It is pop like they used to make it, a long time ago. Rachel Love sings like a French sigh girl from the 1960s. All innocence and loveliness. The band around her, Ian Button and Peter Momtchiloff creates just the right atmosphere of that time when innocence, France Gall, met Serge Gainsbourg and France Gall had no idea about 'Les Sucettes', dirty Gainsbourg. Railcard gives its listeners the opportunity to daydream and for a while it is very pleasant in that sugar sweet world. It is time to wake up though, but don't forget to give the 'Railcard' album a listen first. It's worth it.
Two months from now London's Eaves Wilder will release her debut album, 'Little Miss Sunshine'. The combination of voice and music is rather special. Wilder's voice is one like the singers from GUNMOLL and The Astroid Galaxy Tour. In other words, that combination of a strange high voice and girly innocence. Eaves Wilder combines it with a dreamy quality which sets her apart. And then comes the music. The song may start rather modest, but from the outset it holds a promise for more, perhaps even much more. Just listen how the band kicks in and we're in indie rock territory immediately. It doesn't stop there. Eaves Wilder take a through another dreamy mood before we get some more rock. Finally, the song gets richer and richer, as there was not economised on the arrangement of Hurricane Girl. There may have been an EP before this single called 'Hookey', this is my introduction to Eaves Wilder and I like it.
It was touch and go, but I kept listening and then started writing. From his bio it's clear that Donnie Vie has been around, but perhaps unfortunately our paths have not crossed before. Today they have and I'm listening to a guitar riff like George Harrison built a career on in the 1960s. Plain Jane has its beatlesque moments but is a powerpop song. What the single does, is show how far and wide riffs like 'Daytripper' or 'Paperback Writer' have taken pop music after 1966. Donnie Vie uses that kind of power to take his new song further and successfully at that. He obviously knows how to creep into your ear and remain there for a while. The b-side is a cover of Plastic Ono Band's hit single from 1970, 'Instant Karma', one of John Lennon's great solo singles. All together it is a good 7" single Donnie Vie presents.
POM has a subscription to this blog it seems. It's latest single and the first announcing the new cycle for the band, Lovers makes it easily, once again. Lovers on the one hand sounds instantly recognisable and fresh at the same time. The energetic alternative rock is there in abundance. The way the song explodes into the chorus is absolutely superb. It is in the verses where the band is experimenting a little. There are electronic treatments of the rhythm and pulses that are present in the background. Singer Liza van As is almost left to her own devices in a few parts and there's the whole band once again. Exciting is the right word for Lovers. This is a superb track. The album with the same title will be released in May.
And here is the second single of In Loom already. Gijs Kerkhoven and Sander van Munster are in a hurry. The song is a duo production with at best a lead guitar overdub. If anything Tails reminds of Caesar, the Amsterdam band that called it quits after it released the best album of 2003, 'Caesar'. Tails has that same elementary roughness in it. The cutting corners to make music smoother and easier to digest mentality is nowhere in sight on Tails. This makes the song inspired by music from nearly a quarter of a century ago. But that is just fine, as the world can do with a little roughness every once in a while. In Loom delivers it in full glory. You have to pay attention though. Well within two minutes it's all over.
We end the week with a band from Brazil around the brothers Matheus and Thiago Khouri. The pop they share has escaped from the 1960s and sounds as if The Beatles teamed up with The Byrds. The Rickenbacker is all over the song, just like perfect pop harmonies. What is surprising, is the name Kurt Baker popping up in the credits as co-writer of She Can Do It All. I assume it is the same Kurt Baker as has been popping up in this blog now and then (pun intended). Of course, you will hear nothing new on this single, but believe me, this is true musical fun. Banda AL9 does everything right and scores a hit, at least in my ears. She Can Do It All is instantly processed for singing along to. I can do it all already.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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