Song reviews

Norphlet would seem to be an honest band with their song “Brand New” making all the right old school guitar driven alt-rock noises just like they did way back in the nineties. A song for today? Perhaps not but a song nonetheless and one that deserves to find a friend or two.

With Fleetwood Mac influences much to the fore, “Running Away” takes Sinny all the way from the west coast of Scotland to the west coast of America whilst providing her with the opportunity to demonstrate her maturity as a writer of songs. A wider audience surely awaits.

OK, so this another downbeat song but this time there is the near hypnotic charm of Vicky Harrison’s voice to divert you from the hazy computerised loops of “Synesthesia” that otherwise attempt to intoxicate what is left of your streetwise, beard scratching attitude.

What is the world coming to when the happiest song of the week comes from a minimalist Austrian synth pop duo? So it was with Leyya with their song “Wannabe” escaping the confines of their computerised creative processes to make the world a better place.

Another deep dive into the emotional tar pit from Changelings with “Moondance Venus” succinctly using a splash of reverb to motivate you from the melancholy of your bedroom out in to the sunlight as redemption and love are there for you. And maybe some chocolate too.

It’s not been a week for uplifting songs with Eden Mulholland’s “Wild Animal” adding a dash of nihilism to his neo folk influences and duly taking his song on a leisurely paced journey through uncertainty and shadows.

I suppose it is a sign of the times that happy songs are becoming something of a rarity and it is therefore no surprise that “Run Out” by Nina Smith is another slice of well crafted bleakness that echoes the lack of joy in life today.

Drifting and downbeat, Frøkedal neatly updates the fey folk-rock sound for the listeners of today whilst adding her own poetic viewpoint. “David” is duly hypnotic and jingle jangle at the same time and that works just fine for me.

A rather splendid mix of angst and muscle power, “Double Down” has more than enough substance and street smarts to escape from late night radio and make you run all the red lights on the way to nowhere. Slothrust could well be cool!

“The Waiting Room” may indeed be predictable fare for an up and coming sensitive singer songwriter but Taylor Janzen has literacy on here side and she duly gifts her song with honesty and the potential to be the soundtrack to a montage on one of the better television shows.

“The Flood” is a modern day torch song lost forever between the murkiness of a distant piano and the smoky torment of Koschka’s voice. I drift therefore I am Koschka and there is no colour in my world and, yes, downbeat drama does it for me every time.

Paola Bennet has the courage to leave some space around her words thus making her song “Desert Sky” seem a song about space than a song that fits in a space with her voice adding enough mainstream appeal to get her a place on the bus to Nashville.