Whereas some works can be hard to review, this wonderful collection wears its influences on its sleeve and is all the better for it. Unashamedly complex arrangements with no flab, terrific performances all round… what’s not to love?
Music
Producer and artist EL Mo3 has taken a creatively free-flowing approach with this latest release, conceptually encapsulating the very nature of embracing sobriety – the intensity & high that can come from life, from music – by means of a chaotically colorful, multi-layered & decidedly alternative dance anthem that refuses to be ignored.
This smart piece of acoustic rock from Bruno Brocchi wears its heart very much on its sleeve, doing all the things that a smart piece should. Bruno’s vocals are tense and emotional, panging with regret and feel like they are properly attached to a love-lost story that should resonate with many listeners.
As the hook hits, as those voices meet, this moment offers a passionate peak that hits with immense impact thanks to contrast and the way the song builds up to it. That resolve works perfectly, and contrast again runs within as the line itself speaks of condemnation – the end, the curtain closing.
With almost fifty seconds of pure musical introduction, I Done Came Down proves to be a creatively free-flowing, partly organic and partly industrial whirlwind of rhythmic chaos; the sort that toys with your head-space.
The creative life follows pathways as meandering as the artist’s own writing habits, and this track encapsulates that. Both Tolen and Saint Crown deliver with confidence and determination, adding in pace and grit but never so much so that it takes away from the fluidity of the music.
Undoubtedly, Translation is a release that grows more entertaining and immersive as it progresses. This classic and passionate approach to pop is always welcomed when it returns via such an authentic and energetic performance.
For a track supposedly made by accident, Ygor Sunny’s Guillotine is brilliantly engaging and beautifully hypnotic for the extent of its short-lived, one minute twenty five second life-span.
What sets the song apart from being viewed as an exercise in retro charm is the interesting choice of the samples and the snapping rhythm track. The choral sounds could have been curated for WOMAD by Peter Gabriel, and the fact that they don’t fit the chord progression super-snugly is a dissonant and spooky delight.
This bluesy, soulful cut delivers a message with all the passion you’d expect from the daughter of Grammy-nominated George and Gwen McCrae. Time to give God’s Way a try?
Each time the chorus comes around, its simple, insistent melody drills into your memory, floating above a Björk-like set of rhythmic patterns that seemingly arrive out of nowhere. This is a classy and intricate slice of pop that we should all get our ears around.
Treated strings swoon along like squeezeboxes, guitars work together with a comforting stereo spread. Bass quietly thrums and underpins. The harmonising to the lead vocal is effortless but vital. The harmonies chosen warm the song through to the core. It’s a delicate and thoughtful piece that showcases a tremendous, characterful vocal.