Summer makes most people want a happy soundtrack but, if you want something serious instead, sundayclub have their finger on the pulse of guitar fuelled melancholy and they duly fill “Sad Summer” with wistful and introspective lyrics.
Stripping things back to just his voice and his harmonica, Openwork leaves plenty of space for his literacy and this approach duly keeps his song “Halls of Memory” well and truly on the honest side of the street
Stefanie Passione rips a page out of the commercial success playbook and uses it to season her song “If You Want It” with all the modern urban motifs needed to get airplay yet, despite all that processing, there is still some heart in there.
Gutsy vocals from Jody Ellen and some acerbic lyrics give “The Play Pretend” enough motivational power to hold the attention of the listener with the muscular guitars being nicely counterpointed by the piano fadeout.
Whilst resolutely quirky and manifestly offbeat in their musical approach, HMS Morris are nonetheless eminently likeable with their song “Bwletin Brys” being evidence of that. Make me smile and I’ll buy your song.
“Like A Tiger” has that robo retro groove that is fashionable these days and Cello establishes soon herself as a practitioner in the provision of danceable beats with obvious pop sensibilities. I will call this one endearingly commercial.
Maddie Zahm has the voice to put the words of a sensitive singer songwriter into the style of a full size power ballad and make it work. “Everything All The Time” will duly prove to be a winner with everyone who wears cardigans.
Melodious and delivered with more style than average, “L’Indocile has that playful indie pop vibe that, when combined with almost chanson like emotional intensity, makes the Feutre’s song seem rather less serious than it actually is.
Super smooth pop music seems to be popular at the moment and Alex Amor certainly takes the super smooth approach in delivering her song “Avalanche” to our ears and I am duly reminded of the west coast rock sound of the seventies.
Hitting the retro trail in search of that mystical mix of melody and harmonies are Swedish band Sunnan with their song “I Need You” ending up sounding like it should have been on AM radio in the sixties. It’s a good way to spend three minutes.
“Flight To Earth” has something of an indie pop groove with the added synthesisers adding a bit of purpose to The New Tiger’s musical intent. As a song, it’s kind of groovy but would have been even better if it had fitted into three minutes
Verias Smith sounds convincing all the way through his song “Defy” with the combination of the big ballad aesthetic and the inspirational lyrics likely to prove an uplifting experience to mellow rock fans of a certain age and upwards.