Zero Gravity is an effort that pushes pop music into a bold new direction. While there is a strong, sensual set of vocals that sits at the front of the track, the backing instrumentation is considerably beyond what is typically present. Ebbing and flowing, this synth-infused composition is part Linkin Park, part Avicii, and is punctuated quite nicely through a set of lightly-distorted vocals. Taken together, these disparate elements combine…
What Is Anything is a track that defies convention. It has the vocals adding considerably to the overall harmonies achieved by the track, and the sweeping synths do a heck of a job approximating a narrative. A complex dynamic is established over the course of three minutes, one that feels considerably more engrossing than the song’s run time may indicate. Mixing in hints of 1990s EDM, industrial, alternative, and even…
Millennial is a powerful pop-punk track that calls back to acts as diverse as Plus-44, Taking Back Sunday, and The Rocket Summer. With synths layered over Cure-infused guitars, The Stolen carves out their own unique place in music. The extended instrumental interlude that hits fans at about the 2:15 mark refreshes things, allowing the act the ability to start a-new. Millennial ends in as emphatic of a fashion as it…
On Acid PT II, Sebastian Mikael is able to bring back the halcyon days of 1970s funk and infuse it with hints of Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino. The track is replete with luxurious synths and numerous vocal and instrumental levels. Fans will be able to pick out new twists and turns even five or ten plays in to Acid PT II. Boldly forging through music with a style that…
Score’n is a track that refreshes the swag style of F.L.Y. and Soulja Boi. With echoing vocals and a taut, machine gun-like backing beat, Score’n is immediately able to capture listeners’ attentions. The vox laid down by MARIBASED1 is able to do more than provide fans with a story. In addition, these vocals pull double duty in adding a further layer of harmony to the snap / clap-heavy backing beat.…
Smog City is a trippy effort that includes stark angular guitars, more contemplative arrangements, and charismatic vocals that sit at the top of the track. With so many things occurring over the course of 3:20, one may worry about cohesive. Raised On TV is able to expertly link these different elements together into a modern-day epic; the different section here showcase the strengths of the act without introducing any weaknesses.…
On Liz Kennedy’s Hike Up Your Socks, a tremendously unique musical style issues forth. There are hints of mid-1990s alternative that play in the background alongside early 1980s rock. With a dominant set of vocals playing out over the track, fans will be able to follow the free-form storytelling mode of Kennedy. We really hear a mash-up of Karen Carpenter and Warren Zevon from Kennedy here. The musicianship of Hike…
During Love You To Death, Nya is able to make an intense effort that is part Halsey, part AWOLNATION. Imagine a set of vocals that are able to be touching and sweet while conveying some heavy emotion, linked inexorably to a fulfilling instrumentation. The collection of these two elements makes for a track that will appease individuals looking for new pop music just as it will those fans that want…
On Wrong, Luh Kel is able to express some tremendous emotions in the course of two minutes. The track is R&B-tinged in the vein of Trey Songz, Chris Brown and Sean Kingston. Listeners will be struck at the sheer range that Luh Kel is able to hit during Wrong. The backing instrumentation is fun as well; the punctual and perfect percussion is seconded through a piano line that will bring…
What A B01 does during Copper Nebulas is fantastic. There are nods here to synth-pop, vaporwave, and new wave all presented in the course of 2:30. A deep, industrial-tinged sound ties things together with a nice bow. Vocal hints present themselves at points, but are not trying to establish a narrative – these samples add a further complexity to an already dense composition. Listeners will need to strap their headphones…
Goodnight Ramona is a delightfully bouncy track that ties together Social Distortion and Elvis Costello. With vocals that are as much indie as they are Descendents-era punk, Greg Antista is able to make the song resound loudly for a considerable swath of listeners. Punchy guitars walk the edge between the Minutemen and early Goo Goo Dolls, while the drum fills present in Goodnight Ramona have to be heard to be…
Shellz is able to come forth with a rapid-fire rap flow with her latest single SLIDE. It’s nothing less than amazing that she can craft a cogent narrative while making a cut that will easily garner radio and rotartion airplay. In an era where there are a number of distinct female rappers, it’s doubly impressive that Shellz can carve out her own niche with this single. With a backing beat…
The deliberate guitar line that opens up Little Blue, the newest single from Jane N’ The Jungle, will tattoo itself deeply into the minds and hearts and listeners. It provides the perfect counterpoint for the intense, insistent set of vocals laid down here by Jane. This hard rock track links together acts as diverse as Fear Factory, Queensryche, and Insomniac-era Green Day into a furious tornado of guitars, drums, and…
On So Far No Luck, Earthquake Lights are able to blend together late-1990s alternative with jazz. The touching effort has the vocals pull double duty here, telling a story and adding mightily to the overall harmonies achieved by the guitars, bass, and piano. The production is solid enough that listeners will be able to enjoy each constituent effort just as easily as digging the entirety of the composition. Silence is…
Canadian artist Lucette has surrounded herself with some of the most talented names in modern Americana and country music – working with Dave Cobb on her 2014 debut and grabbing Sturgill Simpson to producer her latest record – but to call her music Americana or country would be a gross misstatement. Yes, there are hints of both here and there spread across Deluxe Hotel Room, but there’s also more liberal…
PRIMARY URL: https://www.safeashouses.ca/ With a gentle melody to lead the way, Safe as Houses’ tender strings forge a wicked little hook for us to cling to at the onset of their new single “Lucky Lucky,” from the album of the same name. The drums soon join them, texturizing the groove with a jazzy sway that lends its experimentalism to the otherwise black and white structure of the verses. A silky…
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/whitebeardmusic1 Whitebeard calls his new record a “Nashipeg” album, but to be frank, I hear little of either scene that the term is referencing in its leadoff single “Paris,” which could be described as a confusing hybrid of country, pop and roots rock at best if we were to examine it from a mainstream perspective. However, if we look at this song from an experimental angle, the critical perception…
One of the reasons why more and more pop fans are turning to the indie side of the dial in 2019 is that the mainstream, by and large, has lacked the heart and emotional investment that underground artists like Jon Dowling put into their work every time that they get into the studio to make new music. Dowling himself turns over one of the most erudite compositions to debut in…
With his skin tight black jeans, leather biker jacket and Little Lord Fauntleroy jet black hairstyle, Brad Marino comes off one of the long lost Ramones on the cover of Extra Credit, his debut solo record. And the look is a pretty apt, as his songs can clearly match the Ramones in terms of catchy earworms. But unlike the boys from Queens, Marino digs much deeper into the crates for…
The tautness of the guitars and drum fills that begin Intoxicated Rage’s new single Battlefield is truly a sight to behold (or behear). The deliberate pacing of the single’s first minute will get listeners all riled up, while the vocals kick in with a blend of Godsmack, System of a Down, Metallica, and Disturbed. A deep, dark abyss of sludgy metal awaits fans. The number of distinct arrangements that make…