It’s a very grown up album, properly thoughtful and mature. It’s quite dense and quite busy. But for those willing to take a dip in What’s That About? there is much that can reward you. I finished the album quite breathless and impressed. You should be, too.
Pop-Rock
Accomplished, fun and thoughtful, Dream is a great calling card for what Silent Gnomes are all about.
It’s a big, brash mayfly of a tune and makes its whopping great point before putting the cat out and turning off the lights. Epic, truncated fun!
An intriguing build of a track, with interesting melodic exploration, a great vocal and accomplished songwriting. Nice!
Very much channelling a Lumineers vibe, we get treated to a guitar solo, subtle layer of busy backing vocals, additional percussion, a dead stop… yup, there is loads going on, but it doesn’t feel like it. It feels great!
An artist armed with authority and vulnerability, an intoxicating control of her instrument and its vibrato, LePage stomps all over this tune with the confidence normally reserved for a superstar. Remarkable song, remarkable artist.
Washington D.C. pop-rockers Broke Royals keep the art of the concept album alive & well. Driving with sweeping instrumental warm, smooth guitars & an equally smooth yet emotionally loaded leading voice, Saint Luxury presents a collection of superbly written songs that each tie in somehow with the project’s underlying ideas.
HazyJane shine brightly with a classic and comforting pop-rock sound on this latest EP. The conceptually framed project unites the four seasons – Temporibus being a Latin term for in the times or seasons.
The energy of the song rises up slowly but in a rhythmically entrancing manner, seeming to wash over you like a wave, the bigger moments crashing into action before the sound drags back out to sea – leaving you with only that whisper of an idea.
Simple Life is beautifully set-up, bringing together a blues-rock backdrop with Kirby’s own expressive and lightly raspy vocals, mixing in a touch of almost doo-wop style backing vocals – the finish is organic yet crisp and clean enough to really let you blast it at volume to immersive results.
United Duality set the scene beautifully for this latest release, beginning the five-minute-plus journey with a live-band capture – a quickly engaging and brilliantly crafted bit of instrumental expression. Things then begin to build, rising up from a simple pop-rock aura to something fully immersed in the freedom and flavor of jazz. An organic riding … Continued
Strong is an interesting song for many reasons – not least the refusal to adhere to the usual trappings of work in this genre. It’s classic songwriting that has enough spice to mark it out as a thoughtful development on Mark’s previous releases.