Single Review: “All Your Life” – Nick Ward

I’m not sure what it is about this song, but lyrically it caught me off guard.  Why?  Well, the main part of the song says I hope you’re really happy all your life. The first line talks about his birth and how he took a deep breath and started to cry. He then starts to …

Single Review: “Perfect Victim” – Hailey Orion

This track starts off with some ethereal sounds that disorient you but in a good way! The vocals are arranged in such a way in the beginning, sung ahhhs in different pitches, then there’s a sound that makes it feels like you’re sucked into reality. Then the main vocals come in over bell like synth …

Single Review: “Axel F” Harold Faltermeyer

While everyone’s gripped in election fever, I thought I’d revisit a track that holds a lot of good memories for me. Not only is it a track from a film that holds a very special place in 80s pop culture it’s also a pop culture reference in itself.  That film was Beverly Hills Cop, and …

Blog interview: Andrew Hartshorn

Hello Andrew how are you?  I’m doing great thanks and the sun is shining at last.  Congratulations on the release of your EP “Sketches For The Requiem” how does it feel? Thanks, I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by some of the comments and making it on to the Fresh Faves was a pleasant surprise. It’s …

Single Review: “Who We Are” – Ngaio

This track combines a strong soulful vocal over a fantastic dance beat that sounds exotic, I love the build up to the hook on this, the bass line is hypnotic, and the percussion wanders in and out. But when it gets going you have a song that really is anthemic, I mean it’s a call …

Single Review: “You Are Not Nosferatu” – C-Beem X The Fantom Man

I picked this song as my track of the day because the synth sounds are instantly recognisable to me. The harsh clap (It’s not a snare funnily enough) is a synthetic sound that Cameo have used on “Word Up” and of course the orchestra hit sound was what I judged my synths by back in …

Single Review: “Forever” – Deco

A nice slice of funky synth pop here! The most prominent part is the synth bass, I’m going to guess that’s straight off a moog. Whatever it is, it sounds so good! Add to that the big drums especially that harsh white noise clap with a touch of reverb… all in all this has a …

Single Review: “Bread” – Anya Nami

This is the Eurovision song that we never knew we needed.  This is a song literally about bread.  I am not kidding. Guess what? I love it. This starts off with a thumping kick, dropping into a pop dance beat, and there’s an accordion, I’m assuming this is a nod to the European roots of …

Single Review: “Will U Be Mine?” Grace Calver

This is the ultimate in pop songs, and even the press release that came with it says it’s the cheesy one. Spoilers? It’s definitely not. Grace shows off great musicianship here with drums that punch through, really gritty 8 bit sounds by the way! What a choice for a track – but then when you …

Single Review: “Retrospective” – Charlotte Adelle

The thing that struck me about this song was the atmospheric production of it. It’s epic, the single note on the piano keeping time, along with the swirling synths. This is beautiful. The chorus is where it got me though both lyrically and musically. The song starts off with the acceptance that no amount of …