Pure rock bliss and absolute character pour through with Jozsef James’ new soulful and hard-hitting single.
Rock
Slick, quick and sharp as you like, Late Night Drinking is packed full of goodness and rattles by like a melodic will-o-the-wisp. More, please.
Offering precisely the journey and intensity implied by the title – a certain darkness, a rising weight and multiple layers of detail – Ghost Of The Past rises up from theatrical beginnings to a full-throttle fusion of rock, pop, and neo-classical instrumentation.
“My mom would get annihilated drunk and play the same Rolling Stones concert (Steel Wheels) on a VHS (1990) instead of a kids show, so by the age of 6, I was building Lincoln Log Guitars and Smoking a white crayon, Keith Richards was my Dora or whatever kids watch these days. “
What you have here is a mash-up of traditional and modern electric instruments that looks risky on paper but sounds great in practice. I’m put in mind of the solo albums by ex-Marillion frontman, Fish, around the time of his Internal Exile album. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming to this fresh, but the accomplishment is undeniable.
Featuring crisp, clean, soulful vocals, feeling straight out of a nineties emo-rock outfit, and a soundscape that leans back and forth between acoustic delicacy, theatrical scene setting – complete with a spoken monologue – and dreamlike electronic ambiance, the song is unlike anything else you’re likely to stumble upon of late.
Songwriting stands tall on this one, short lines walk you through a long-form yet rhythmic melody, by means of a surprisingly gentle leading voice – a quality that proves recognisable and unique to the Plastic Barricades sound.
Rock and roll is alive, thriving, and in perfectly safe hands. Solar Strides emerge this season with two singles set to reignite the indie-rock anthem eras – the ones that drew a hearty crowd and offered that raw and real escapism the mainstream just couldn’t provide.
Freak sets out to be declamatory and certain, with human guitars and a questing vocal performance. There’s something of Simon Le Bon’s melodic choice about the whole affair; a New Romantic sense of panache amidst the grooving to help set the 21st century alight!
Effectively bridging the gap between pop-rock and lo-fi, almost shoe-gaze-like tones, the single rains down with organic purity, engaging rhythms, and crisp, clean nostalgia.
Celebrating all manner of aspects from gratitude to relationships to overcoming or learning from mistakes, this EP in full showcases a talented and versatile artist and songwriter, as well as offers a playlist that’s beautifully heartfelt, eclectic, and deeply human.
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.