Jon Patrick Walker has never been one to back down from an ambitious project, and with the release of his latest album, the aptly titled Welcome to the Edge Times, he enters uncharted sonic waters with a carefree attitude that is as infectious as it is endearing. Flamboyant grooves adorn the backdrop of “Like a Rose” while stoic vocals colorize an otherwise black and white “Blues for My Baby.” Rambunctious rhythm…
Nick Lowe should be as well-known as Springsteen… or at the very least Elvis Costello. And by musicians, of just about all stripes, he is. But to the casual music listener, aside from his 1984 earworm, “Cruel To be Kind,” (initially release five years prior to little notice), many have no idea just how influential he is as a musician, songwriter, producer and all around dapper guy who has seamlessly…
Holy Beach’s opening salvo “Ships Off The Coast” signals their first full length album All That Matters Is This Matter isn’t playing around. There’s some vivid imagery in the lyrics and vocalist/songwriter John Lally gets everything he can out of the writing thanks to his lung power and dramatic phrasing alike. Though the song and album as a whole are definitely metal, but listeners will note there is little lead…
Lexie Rose’s rise from under the radar budding songwriting talent to major global star begins with this five song EP release. On My Own finds the seventeen year old giant in the making working alongside top notch producer Max Allyn to craft a collection that aims high and consistently hits its mark. It isn’t just breathtaking to hear a young songwriter so capable of learning from her collaborators; it’s equally…
Monsieur Jobs’ “Chow Chow eyyy Pow Pow” is an attention grabbing debut single featuring a cadre of top flight musical and songwriting talent. No Mercy’s long-standing vocalist Martin Citron gives this immediate commercial appeal it might have otherwise lacked, but the combination of Toby Holguin, Leo Jaramillo, Stan Kolev, and Charlie Illera deliver the goods from a musical point of view and their contributions are informed by a deep grounding…
Enrico Fernando’s Red Black Red project debuts with Resettlement, an eight track first effort that makes clear this New Jersey based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist demands serious and widespread attention. The songwriting is inspired in large measure by issues close to Fernando’s heart and his labors on making the release reality reflect his intimacy with the subject matter. You hear that intimacy in even the most brash, abrasive moments on Resettlement.…
Ashley Delima’s debut single “Stay in America” enlists some heavyweight songwriting, production, and musical talent to make the biggest possible splash. Producer Marc Swersky teams with Delima and songwriter Brielle Brown and some of the best accompanying musicians working in popular music today strengthening her efforts here. The burning heart of the song, her words and voice, is what matters most and it gains immense luster from the surrounding virtues.…
The debut single from C.K. and the Rising Tide, “Friends”, comes from an uniquely magical configuration of musicians. Brother C.K. and Wayne Flach have played together before in an earlier band named The Kindness and C.K. released his first solo recording Empty Mansions following the band’s disbandment. The well-received album promised to be the first of many for C.K. Flach and he definitely demonstrated the needed songwriting skills to sustain…
Randy Lyght’s “Bumped into Love” is a fantastic single from his fourth solo studio release, Another Side of Me, and marks another high point in the career of this fantastic vocalist and song interpreter. Lyght plays to what we know as familiar, but he has the talent and good sense to choose outstanding collaborators in such a way that there’s a signature luster emanating from the tune that others will…
The first single from the new Vessbroz album featuring Kyle Davis’ singing and lyric contributions, “Nothing”, has all the catchiness you’d hope for, but there’s an additional layer of substance coming from Davis’ songwriting skills. Davis doesn’t settle for just writing a grab bag of phrases but, instead, constructs a natural sounding lyric that his vocals handle with more than a little aplomb and that have something genuine and powerful…
