Song reviews

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.

Sounding like a throwback to the retro days of the nineties does Roman Clarke no harm at all and his song “What Are We Gonna Do” is both ear and radio friendly. I like songs that you can sing along with so that’s what I am gonna do.

If song could ever be described as sophisticated then “Im Rhy” by Gina Été would be a certain candidate for such a title. Low key and infused with both melancholy and jazz influences, the song shows that Gina Été has class aplenty.

Eminently tasteful and in worship of the glory days of English folk music, “Woebetide Hill” resonates with respect for the spiritual motivations of the songwriters of the past and Kim Thompsett duly adds enough air to float the song towards the sky.

“Oh You Are Not Well” has the words of the big city yet is infused with the spirit of the wilderness. I suppose that makes Chloe Foy something of a folk singer although she seems more interested in reality than its spiritual substitute. Intense.

Endearing in the way that only sugary indie pop can be, Sweden’s Silvermannen skip sweetly through their song “Mr Hyde” with all the poise and delicacy that such songs should have. Finger snapping is the only way to go with this one.