Song reviews

Throw some untidy guitars on top of a solid backbeat and decorate with some half spoken half emoted words and you get “Trampoline Girl” by Hecojeni. It’s more like a demo but a playful one and the song doesn’t overstay its welcome

Summer used to mean fun but not anymore. Huw Cadwaladr abandons any thought of going to the beach and instead hits the road to a town called broody introspection. “I Believe” is deep and dark and forever covered with clouds.

You can just tell when a band are playing to the cool kids and Sin Cos Tan duly do just that with the combination of restrained emotions and that retro synth pop sounds making “Icarian” into a valid soundtrack for the eternally fashionable.

Lizzie Hosking follows the pop princess path with “Unforgettable” being encased in the kind of plastic that you get when digital processing is regarding more important than the performance. Shame, as this is a good song and she has a decent voice.

A song about not wanting to be a junkie anymore? Charlie Clark is clearly aiming “Don’t Have A Cow Man” at the trendies who think drinking full fat milk is living on the edge. Bet he even wears a hat like Pete Doherty wore when he was cool.

Pleasingly melodic, Some Sprouts play all their indie pop cards to win with “Guetta”. There is a notable amount of processing going on with the music but the band’s fan boy level of enthusiasm for the genre makes it work.

No one would accuse Mandrake Handshake of racing to the finish line as their song “En Vol” instead takes the measured and mellow path with their floating musical influences being always clearly worn on their collective sleeve.

It must be a fashion thing with the dancefloor once again providing the musical inspiration for a song. “Big Brat Trip” goes all trip hop with the added female vocals making it all seem like the soundtrack to the kind of dream we all had back then.

Overtracked uses the robotic beat of the dancefloor to drive “ Sundown” along the road to its midnight rendezvous but all is forgiven when the combination of retro keyboards and feline female vocals hits your ears.

I would suppose that “Ja” by Florian and The Better Hand would best be classed as “laptop pop” but the song – it is sung in German, by the way - has enough in the way of melody and hooks to make it memorable nonetheless.

Although swathed in reverb as is always the way of dream pop, “Cavalier Seul” nonetheless drifts successfully into your attention span with Bleu Reine adding the blurred vocals that carry the song off into the fog.

Wild Oceans spring no surprises upon us with “I Don’t Need You” yet it has to be said that they do a confident line in ear friendly and guitar heavy songs in the melodic rock style. It’s also no surprise that people like this kind of relatable song.