The intro is what draws you in on this one, it’s very big, synth-wise, promises epic things, and boy does it it deliver… I love the vocals on this, as well as the drums, they are fluid and really stand out amongst the overall track. When I first heard this I knew it would be …
Single Review: “Butter Side Up Boy” – Laurie Wright
Laurie Wright is back with a track with strong vocals, guitars, drums and…. Harmonica! This song comes roaring out of the gates with attitude, and it’s a cracker. I really like Laurie’s vocals on this, it sounds like he’s having a blast recording it, but this belies the dark feeling behind the lyrics, there’s a …
Single Review: “That’ll Be The Day” – Buddy Holly
As tomorrow is 63 years since Buddy Holly, along with Richie Havens and The Big Bopper died tragically in a plane crash I thought I’d commemorate this with my favourite Buddy Holly song. I have memories of jamming this on the piano with my friend Simon and him singing and playing on a battered acoustic …
Single Review: “Solo” – Fran Minney
I like the soulfulness of this tune. Fran starts off in the lower range of her voice but what really took me by surprise was when she hit the chorus and the multiple layers of harmonies. Beautiful work! The production on this is so good too, I love the synths on this – poppy but …
Single Review: “Boys From Jungle” – Junior Bill
I’m trying to decide whether this is a punk protest song or not. It’s definitely punk, the attitude is there. But the lyrics are definitely interesting, it’s the reality of immigrants coming to the UK, and their stories, it’s loud, it’s aggressive. But do you oboe what? It’s getting the message across. For me the …
Single Review: “Sidecar” – Prima Hera
I have heard this song so many times now, I think it’s part of my soundtrack of 2023. It’s such a simple song, Prima Hera’s vocals are gorgeous on this. She has a touch of reverb on her vocals, and she’s able to harmonise comfortably going from a major to minor harmony with the other …
Single Review: “I Still Love Him” – Blossom Calderone
There are so many things that I like about this song, first of all it’s in 3/4 time. That will always be welcome around here. Secondly, the pizzicato strings, you don’t usually hear that in music nowadays unless it’s arpeggiated a la Rodney Jerkins 90s productions, so it’s good to hear that. Thirdly, Blossom’s voice …
Single Review: “Can’t Touch” – The Great Leslie
The boys are back in town and they’ve got a cracker of a track proclaiming that they’re planning to make more noise in 2023. “Can’t Touch” is a mixture of different patterns, first of all it starts off with a guitar riff that chugs off at 16ths, the drums come in at 0:06, all toms …
Single Review: “Penny Lane” – The Beatles
“Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes…” You know you sang along with that. I certainly did. This song is part of English history and on this particular day in 1967, the Beatles did a last minute remix of it along with “Strawberry Fields Forever” the double a side single that they …
Single Review: “Few And Far Between” – Calum Baird
The thing I like about Calum’s voice is that it’s… Honest. What do I mean about that? Well first of all, you can hear his Scottish accent coming through real true, there are no heirs and graces there. He’s a folk singer telling a story in his songs, and you have to have a believable …