“Underneath the ground we’ll be safe and warm / Underneath the ground far below the storm / We’ll hide in the dark and we’ll rise when the world is reborn.” These are some of the words Jeremy Rice sings in the new single “Underneath the Ground,” and they unmistakably channel the feel of a pandemic-era world waiting to come to life once more. The insularity of the harmony through which…
Ian Bouras’ A Blind Painter’s Guide to Coloring Breath is one of the young year’s most interesting releases yet for a number of reasons. The eight songs on this release are demos; circumstances dictated the nature of this release. Bouras, under optimal circumstances, would have polished and further developed these tracks, but Bouras spent the bulk of 2020 as a patient in various psychiatric hospitals. Bouras experienced considerable difficulties reacquainting himself with…
Vianchi has returned with his follow up single, to the ever so slightly morbid, “Die [Alone].” “Overdose” is a stylish and sensual dedication to being so lovesick that we indulge to the point of excess. Too much of a good thing can be reductive, and Vianchi is walking a fine line on “Overdose.” It’s said that love can be a drug, and the character in Vianchi’s, “Overdose” is chasing the…
Anyone can be loud and proud about it. If you’ve got the right stack of amplifiers and a sense of adventure, you can produce sounds as big as mountains whilst utilizing the natural ambience to get people’s attention from a great distance, but to manipulate raw tonal energy into something that feels emotional and tangible to the average person – as Phantom Wave do in their new album Wilds – takes a…
Sophomore albums can be ever tougher than virgin efforts are, but you’d never guess as much from taking a peek at the seamlessness of Bobby Dove’s Hopeless Romantic. Although created with much of the same stylish color their first record was, Dove’s follow-up to Thunderchild is a lot more personal, and you needn’t look much further than the LP’s title cut and lead music video to understand what I mean. They’re a singer/songwriter…
You can always tell when an artist is truly invested in the music they’re making, and after giving “Love to the Moon” a listen just this week, I think it’s obvious that Raquel Kiaraa is the real deal. Kiaraa’s honeysweet vocal and old timey harmonies are two of the biggest reasons why “Love to the Moon” feels familiar and fun at the same time, but looking even closer allows for…
Utilizing a jagged groove to emphasize the simplicity of their melodies in “Daughters of Progress.” Drawing together otherwise perplexing pulsations out of the ethers to form a casual rhythm in “New Dogs.” Dabbling in the best sort of overindulgence you can hope to find in a guitar-driven album in “Myth of You.” Slapping us around with the very audacity of a signature harmony in “Equation.” Waxflight mean business in their…
From an instrumental point of view, there’s no argument that Rob Alexander isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel in his new album Dream Out Loud; however, there’s also no denying that while he isn’t trying to break new ground in the pop/rock genre, he’s definitely stepping up his game as a soloist in a bold new era for the style. We’re given the chance to hear what Alexander can do at…
The refined purveyor of truth, Larry J, is back on the scene with two new singles. After recently undergoing a successful bypass, Larry has managed to write and record two quality Pop Country songs. His reputation precedes him, with a grocery list of achievements, collaborations, and accolades. He likes to keep it simple, when it comes to his music, so don’t expect any pretensions or obfuscations. Larry J delivers from…
Decade spanning country superstar Richard Lynch returns with the winning, affable My Guitar Drips Country. Starting with the effective tone setting “Starting Now”, Lynch makes it clear, he’s about love and togetherness, and while it comes with a decidedly religious tint that might not be for everyone, his message is undeniably altruistic and should be heard. MORE ON RICHARD LYNCH: https://richardlynchband.com/ With that song it recounts a man who’s turned…
Southern United States based Davy Williamson’s first solo single “Thin Disguise” from his debut EP release is the sort of track you want to have building a first impression for your solo career. Williamson makes great use of hard rock as a vehicle for his songwriting and manages invoking its strengths while still making a personal statement. He does it without any flash or unnecessary gloss. Williamson isn’t the sort…
Tom Tikka is and has always been a natural storyteller with the release of his newest EP That’s What Winston Churchill Said. With a majority of these songs written over the course of his life (the ending track “A Good Thing Going On” was written when Tikka was 18,) its clear why Tikka has remained in music and garnered as much acclaim as he has both solo and with other…
Very clearly from the beginning of his titular track “Things to Come”, Jeremy Parsons makes it clear that nostalgia is a powerful thing. The Nashville resident has made a name for himself, reclaiming the sounds and storytelling of more classic country as seen by the likes of legends like Hank Williams and George Jones (the latter of whom Parsons has opened for) and its easy to see why he’s a rising…
‘Wholething’ is that rare song that the heartless can enjoy thoroughly and the soulful can enjoy thoroughly. The former may be due to the completely irreverent, devil-may-care soliloquies of a one Afroman, an expert feature on the track given its tired and cliched subject matter about relationships, girls, being hot, and slipping past one’s significant other. HEWAS INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/iamhewas/ The latter will enjoy it for the sharp comparison to Afroman’s…
True talent and true grit show up in Evan Troop’s The Next Chapter. It takes just five songs to fall under this Texan’s spell. With exciting guitar shapes around each corner, bolstering Troop’s commanding baritone vocals, The Next Chapter is convincingly remarkable. Dallas’ Troop is a former Navy man, and a graduate of Southern Methodist University. His biography materials also state that his Canadian parents met at a music studio…
Everything but the Everything has one of those lengthy titles that reminds one of simpler, purer times. A particular era it calls to mind is the 80s, where edgy and eclectic band titles weren’t something to be scoffed at but rather lined up the columns of the Billboard 200. The contrast between said name and the common marketing PR choices in the Hollywood music scene only cements the implication creativity…
With a graceful hum that starts to resemble a yearning moan as the next few seconds go by, “Up to Us” charismatically welcomes us into the dark hue of Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man with a rather optimistic melody soon to swell from the silence. In songs like this one and the old world “Hymn for a Wanderer,” Mauri Dark – a.k.a. Mauri Kosonen – will wrap us in layers of neo-gothic…
While it would be foolish to think they’re the only element of sincere expression in the new single “Can’t Press Reset” by Francine Honey, the string arrangement in the song is perhaps reason enough to give it a close listen this season (alongside its companion video). URL: https://www.facebook.com/FrancineHoneySongs/ Creating the right kind of backdrop for a singer of Honey’s skillset can prove to be a little challenging for producers, but…
Darren Michael Boyd’s sophomore effort, Wonders Of The Invisible World, is everything as a music fan you would hope it could be. Abrasive, angry, uncompromising, wide-ranging. Part of Boyd’s craft is his ability to fuse sound with seemingly autobiographical influences. His debut solo album, aptly titled Lifting The Curse, was inspired by a life-altering accident and subsequent strenuous road to recovery. The term blood sweat and tears would not be…
Concept albums are nothing new. If you’re a fan of Green Day, you’re familiar with American Idiot. The Beach Boys’ brought us Pet Sounds. The Beatles’ masterpiece Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is one of the most famous concept albums in history. Singer/songwriter David Arn has released the incredible concept album, Traveler Tales. In his songs, he takes on the perspective of 14 different travelers, revealing much about human…