Song reviews

The big ballad surreptitiously returns in the guise of “Waves” and J Edna Me duly amplifies the emotions with minimal piano and maximum swooping synths helping her take the song all the way from chorus to bridge. It’s a big one.

I’m sure you (like me) know class when you hear it and “What I Didn’t Tell You” is just that. The vibe is nineties neo soul meets post-midnight jazz and Elia Orson’s voice poise and elegance will convince even jaded ears of the need to listen.

Almost diffident in its untidiness, “Lemme Go” struts along the street to the sixties. The song sounds murky and, with little in the way of poetic lyrics, it is wonder that it works at all. But it does and that, methinks, is the Alien Tango magic.

Some songs run deeper than others and “Nari Nari” is such a song with Holbrook spinning their guitars into a coat of much meaningfulness and duly wearing it with style. There is, of course, European quirkiness stitched in but it’s quality nonetheless.

I can live with this one. “Want To Go Back” loops round the bedroom like a song borne of a well provisioned record collection yet Wolf Manhattan has the nous to revere his references rather than just replicating them. I shall sing along.

Solid old school dancefloor moves from Smoove & Turrell with “IGOTCHA” having the irresistible post-midnight vibe that would make even an archbishop put on his dancing shoes and speed into the dawn. Feel the groove.

Once again, I feel a sigh coming on as “Mox Nox” by Alison Eales takes command of my ears. Sweetly sentimental, delightfully delicate and lyrically intelligent, this song is, in a way, a throwback to a time when quality mattered. This, my friends, is quality.

Packed full of droning synths and moody intent, “VHS” embodies the retro lo-fi vibe that its title would suggest with Alex Kelman executing his downbeat intentions with notable efficiency. The bleak tone is no doubt deliberate but the song hits it mark.

It seems to be the week for sentimental songs and Erin K duly adds “Keep Her” to the “what becomes of the broken hearted” playlist. Her lyrical adeptness is always obvious and her level headed approach to telling it like it is has appeal.

Scottish band The Camans resurrect a standard song called “The Banks of Inverary” and do the diligent and reverential thing by replaying it in a form that even the long gone would recognise. Then again, you can’t actually go wrong with a song like this.

Had to give this one a third listen as this curious hybrid of loops, guitar melodies and excessive plastic processing never seemed to go anywhere yet left me somewhere far away from where I started. Offbeat just about covers it. It must be a style thing.

Ever wondered what a protest song might sound like in 2023? Pretty much the same as it would have sounded in 1968 if “Peak 2023” by Chris Pellnat is anything to go by. The lyrical references might well be of today but the irony is timeless.