Song reviews

Modern day country music, like vegetables, just ain’t my thing yet when you add some soul, as Francine Honey has done to her song “Stay”, the result works so much better than it should with the poise and confidence in her voice sealing the deal.

Pop music for adults isn’t as common as it should be so “Ne m’appelle pas” by Canada’s finest chanteuse Coeur De Pirate is a welcome addition to a neglected genre. It’s a polished song but also one with enough quirkiness and charm to stand out from the crowd.

Something of an offbeat oddity, Islandman set up a loping groove and weave through enough strands from Turkish traditional musical styles to make their song “Lamani” appealing to the ears and almost hypnotic in its effects. Trippy, man!

A song that made me feel more than a bit sentimental for days gone by, “Caravan” rambles with mystical purpose and multitudinous influences whilst providing Ummagma with the opportunity to demonstrate the musical benefits of both the guitar solo and wistful vocals.

Monica Queen and Johnny Smillie return in their Tenement & Temple guise and, whilst skilfully painting “Loving Arms” in shades of Americana, duly give us a song that is sweetly sentimental, spiritual and altogether ethereal.

Ignescent make a bid for mainstream success with “Into The Night”. It’s a full on rock song with impassioned female vocals, metallic power chords and thunderous drums and Ignescent have duly ticked all the boxes needed to match genre expectations.

More electro pop from Sweden with “Woman With A Knife” by Felin being distinguished by a rather more aggressive lyrical posture than is the norm for musicians from the Nordic area. The song is not quite a call to arms but Felin still makes it stylistically purposeful.

Super cool electro minimalism seems be the flavour of this week with Lune jumping right on the trend with her song “Don’t Speak”. This is a low key song very much in the style and tempo of similar post dancefloor grooves and should therefore find friends in the best places.

Despite its looped simplicity, “Company” by Thandii is super cool with the song’s electro minimalism giving it just enough velocity to escape the imprisonment dance floor and go for a spin instead on the stereo of a BMW M4. Who needs wheelspin anyway?

Infused with mystical lyricism and the mellow melancholy inherent to folk music of these times, Sive weaves her wistful musical spell throughout her song “Yuki Onna”. Very tastefully done, of course, and this is the kind of song that leads inexorably towards festival bookings.

As if he has never been away, Yip Man of Scotland returns with a new song “Suffer More”. Overflowing with self-deprecating humour, Yip Man makes you believe once more in the healing power of melody driven but still determinedly angular guitar pop.

Can pop punk still be a musical motivator for a band of today? It would certainly seem so with Canadian band Knifey using their song “Shallow” to provide the evidence. However, the irony in the lyrics is definitely not of the past.