The intricate balancing of sonic warmth and acoustic intimacy – an expression of longing and contemplation that rises with honesty and esteem, throughout a softly expanding, organic but impassioned audio arrangement…
Folk
There’s a refreshingly raw authenticity to the recording of these songs. Amidst the overwhelming and often disappointing rise of AI production and writing, there’s something all the more piercingly genuine about a simple, unedited recording of a human – their natural voice, and their solo instrument – telling stories, being real, connecting for the timeless and universal appeal of song.
Acoustic warmth and the live crackle of authentic, unplugged musicianship is always refreshing amidst the modern rise of AI and electronic overproduction. Enter Taji Morod, with the vintage wonder of an acoustically rising and falling folk sound.
Folk singer and songwriter Ralph Louie lightens the mood musically, but conceptually takes on the issue of betrayal and misplaced trust, with the honest, strangely warming yet scornful Out in the Cold.
This is a fine example of vocal and songwriting depth that effortlessly captivates, creating a fresh space for contemplation and wonder, and utilising just a few humble traits from the likes of folk and gospel music to really light up that approach.
Storytelling soul-folk rockers Until They Burn Me welcome listeners into an extensive yet brilliantly versatile collection of a original tracks – the sort that impress, engage, and entertain, all while introducing an act with a softly unmistakable backbone to their creative style.
Sometimes it feels like modern music is in a rush to connect – like it has to be, because attention spans won’t stand for anything else. Real art isn’t made that way though, music neither. It emerges from a creative space of contemplation and expression, a desire to understand either oneself or the world at large.
Melancholic musical theatre, carefully intertwined with an aptly-circus-like piano progression – waves of back and forth, creating a sense of energy and entertainment; drastically juxtaposed by the vulnerability and rasp of the leading voice. Magpies craft a single both instantly recognisable and boldly unorthodox, with the bluesy tone and story of The Ballad Of The Crying Clown.
A joyful anthem on the one hand, from a distance – an altogether-now ode to the beauty of musical unity. But on the other, a unique take on missing someone, on the feeling of having cared for someone who could ‘read the stars’, but was never able to ‘see the starlight in me’.
Lifelong creative and indie favourite Rasmus Fynbo, standing tall on the back of over 25 years of experience as a musician, releases this season a stunning collection of original tracks – in collaboration with the wonderful vocals of Argentinian singer Camila Castellani.
Heavily inspired by the Johnny Cash album American IV: The Man Comes Around, as well as by Johnny’s autobiography Cash, Traveling is a short and sweet declaration of pure inner peace and satisfaction.
An easy three chord strum, a vocal depth that’s distinct and calming, with short lines that follow a simple and memorable thread of melody – Check is an ode to the sheer pleasure of making music for a living.