Guitarist and composer Hear The Colors – an artist with a defiantly unique approach to crafting audio soundscapes and other-worldly ventures that consume audiences – delivers a profound and powerful instrumental album this year, with the magnetic and mighty Rebirth.
Guitar
From the mellow to the outright untraceable in pace and presence, Joe’s guitar-work shines with natural charm throughout this seductive gem of a blues-folk track. The voice and guitar feel born to perform together in this way, and underneath we get a simple, nostalgic blues groove, a meandering bassline and beat combination, with some modest keys and synths adding a sleepy gospel vibe to an already alluring fusion of traits.
Fearlessly heartfelt and inspired by the very location where the songwriter’s own father’s ashes were laid to rest – Stag on the Cliff is an empowering and immersive instrumental composition, with a multitude of distinct moments of evolution and shifting dynamic that consistently hold tight to your attention.
The representation of the sheer joy and servitude of these animals we barely deserve rings loud, and at just one minute and fifteen seconds, this track quite perfectly encapsulates the brief but incomparable connections we share with our four-legged friends.
Also included in the double a-side release is a rather phenomenal track called Shapeshifting, a follow-up that takes a completely different approach, immediately highlighting the fast-fingers and masterful fretboard exploration of guitarist Joe Hodgson in a mesmerising fashion.
Dreamy surf-rock guitar sounds and raspy vocals light up a kind of summertime joy and celebration – mikey6strings unites musicianship and songwriting expertise, for the smooth and catchy Best Friends.
Retro-instrumental quirks with an imaginative twist – a familiar cover concept, but a track and intention that’s quick to redirect things. Slender Guitarist offers a creative look at two worlds colliding, with this pop-punk meets old-school gamer tones composition, for If GREEN DAY’s Brain Stew was in Pizza Tower.
Stunning instrumental guitar music, aptly designed to create an immersive space for listeners – an impressively rooted one, but focused on that ambient connection above anything purely self-indulgent.
London creative Charlie Turner blends smooth guitar production and slick riffs with intimate and relatable lyrics and vocals, as Mrs Other effectively intertwines the catchy indie pop anthem with something deeply thoughtful and emotionally impactful.
Simplicity rules, guitar and cello dancing sublimely together, through a mellow neo-classical arrangement with lashings of quiet space. Guitarist Eduardo Diaz has composed a unique dedication to his late parents, with the heartfelt poignancy of Recuerdos.
Indie’s iconic classical guitarist, composer and poet Giuseppe Bonaccorso consistently gifts audiences clear reasons to sit back and immerse themselves in his music. This truth resounds with atmospheric depth and intrigue, throughout the established artist’s unprecedented take on the historically renowned Ave Maria.
“If your goal is to learn to play a musical instrument then no, you are NOT too old to learn. I
repeat – You are not too old to learn a musical instrument!”