This is a great combination of jazz and acoustic soul. I’m all chilled out from listening to it and it’s setting my Sunday afternoon off perfectly. This is an acoustic led track with percussion, and I could be wrong but sounds like an acoustic bass plus keyboards. The harmonies are solid, nicely layered. What caught …
This is pretty appropriate given that we are in that dull part of the year where it’s still dark when we get up in the morning, pay day is still a decade away, and it’s the winter blues. This song is a bit of a statement to say, it’s going to get better no matter …
Big drums? Phil Collins style? Jangly guitars with that 80s sheen like Nile Rodgers David Bowie era vibes? Big voice delivering a not unpleasant vocal? Go ahead.I’m listening. This song is about standing up against people they can’t stand to see someone happy. It’s a fun listen, with a great danceable track – I feel …
This has such a tasty groove to it! You have bass, drums, percussion and guitar, giving great vibes, it had me bopping my head to it from the get go. Add to that the piano that’s playing along with Liza’s deep and rich vocals – there’s a nice touch of reverb on it at 1:08 …
This track is a beautiful folk number with an ethereal quality to it, which makes me understand why Ch’Lu chose to label this as new age. Within the track you hear so many layers – bird song, operatic vocals, crickets. All accompanied by a classical guitar, this whisked me off to a far away place …
Picture: Brendan Holmes You are a multifaceted producer and sound engineer, how did it all begin for you? Well, I played in bands and wrote songs as a kid but at some point decided that I might be better suited for the studio side of making music and so I went to Berklee College of …
I like the futuristic soul jazz vibes to this! The chords and bass line define this perfectly. I could imagine Pharrell jamming out to this, possibly even Justin Timberlake. The synths play an important part in this, providing an earworm for days! The lyrics show a dry sense of humour about this being a 2 …
This song soundtracked my walk around Sainsbury’s. It’s gentle, but very dark in terms of the progression and feel though so it’s quite a contrast! This is an acoustic led number, with strings added for good measure, Andrew sings in the higher register but it’s whispered. My favourite part is when the piano and strings …
This is such a gentle track, all built around synths. The thing that caught my ear was the way that the chords started, keeping tempo and then all the elements being added in. It’s just two chords but sometimes that’s all you need. There’s an arpeggiated synth in there that’s quite subtle but then there’s …
In honour of it being Naughty Boy’s birthday on 1st January 2025, I decided to review one of my favourite tracks of the last 25 years. Yes, I have a loose top 20 of favourite tracks of the current century. Strange? Maybe. Anyway, this is a collaboration with Emeli Sandé and they go next levels …
