Single Review: “Pretty Baby” – Garlen Lo

Garlen Lo is back with his brand of humour and self deprecating lyrics in this song that he wrote at the age of 17. One thing I wanted to point out is that he’s really good at this homemade kind of sound – acoustic guitar recorded to tape and mixed so that you get the …

Single Review: “Listen” – Project Blackbird

Project Blackbird are back with a track that’s a slick bit of production! You have Ming’s vocals switching between melody and spoken word effortlessly. Given the fact that the lyrics are in poetic form that’s probably not an accident. I like the layers to the vocals, where there’s a deeper voice emphasising on certain words …

Single Review: “Fine Art” Gardna X JayaHadADream

This exploded out of my AirPods with such energy I had to write something about it. The slick beat is the stage on which Jayahadream and Gardna choose to lay down their rapid fire bars, I love the old school garage vibe on this with glitching synths, they don’t shout it’s pretty chilled and makes …

In The Spotlight: Sammy Stein Talks To Kim Cypher.

Tell us briefly about your journey in music until now. Music has been a lifelong journey. As a young child I was drawn to all things musical. There was always music playing in the house (my dad loved big band music) and when I was introduced to the recorder and the piano, I could instinctively …

Single Review: “Dorothea Tanning” – Boudicca’s Bass Service

The title intrigued me for this one – I had to look Dorothea up. She was an artist in multiple mediums whose early influences was surrealism. It’s a very interesting Wikipedia entry, she lived until the age of 101! This track is trippy and psychedelic, the vocals are husky and almost whispered, the guitars sound …

Single Review: “You Lost Out” – The Music Of Sound

This song is just gorgeous. With a line up change and the addition of Sherry Sahayaraj, The Music Of Sound keep their melodic flavours going but with a slight spice in flavour.  Let’s talk about the instruments first. It’s a simple arrangement, bass keeping the groove along with the drums with a slight variation in …

Single Review: “Why Can’t I Wake Up With You?” – Take That

Today is the Mercury Music Awards and they are being hosted at @abbeyroadstudios @freshonthenet asked a question on his fabulous #nowplaying show on @bbc6music – what album in the past got nominated but never won? Naturally there are so many, but one I didn’t realise was nominated when looking for my favourite was Take That’s …

Single Review: “No Future” – The Great Leslie

The Great Leslie are back with a track that’s an absolute stomper! Big rock drums that swing on the toms, big vocals, big crunchy guitars… well what do you expect from the great Leslie? A lot and then some. This is a message with several layers – let’s start with the cover – a picture …

Single Review: “World Happy” – Michelle Ward

Michelle Ward is back with a new single “World Happy” – I played it on my show and I’m absolutely in love with it. It’s an indie pop tune heavy on the pop elements – catchy melody that brings sunshine – lyrics that get to the point – the world needs more happiness.First verse: God’s …