Song reviews

At last! A cover version that manages to be so much more than a copy. Anne Marie Almedal’s restrained take on The Cure’s “Lovesong” extracts maximum emotion and turns the song into something new in the process.

It is kind odd how the past gets to seem fresh if you leave it long enough. Eckhardt and the House take the retro route to the New York of the eighties with “Funeral” and, while some might even call this song self-consciously stylish, it works nonetheless.

Unashamedly sentimental and surefootedly strolling down the middle of the road, Charlie Hole aims for the heartstrings with “Find Someone Who Cares” and hits his mark with the kind of accuracy that comes only with clean living.

Nicely drifting along in their own dream pop way are Postiljonen with their song “Chasing Stars” being as nice an example of a meandering soundtrack to your day as you are likely to get without actually being retro.

There is always a place in my heart for a proper pop song and Pattern Pusher duly push all the right buttons with their Britpop influenced sugary confection “Shakey”. This is a song that makes the world a better place.

An odd mix of synthetic and real, “Splash The World With your Colours” almost sounds different but doesn’t quite gel as a song with Jhenni’s voice sounding more like the result of technical tinkering than the real thing.

Bleak and distinctly retro, Danish electro poppers Sparkling successfully add enough arthouse pretension to get them playlist attention in the better coffee shops throughout the land and duly keep “Say Goodbye To The Ragged Tiger” one shot ahead of a latté.

I thought I recognised her voice and it was indeed Cherrill Rae of eighties discolettes The Raes, Time has passed and she has now moved to the soul side of the street with her song “Since I Lost My Baby” reaching way past into the past for its musical goodness.

A rather enchanting song from Amy Duncan this time with “My Silver Net” drifting towards the folk song end of the musical spectrum before ending on a near jazzy note. That’s a sign of musical maturity to my ears and my ears are never wrong.

Dissolving dream pop into a cup of best guitar driven grunge like a band on a mission, The Money War nuzzle up against your common sense and duly make you wish that you could make the world a better place. “Hey Now” is therefore kind of uplifting in a fuzzy sort of way.

You can never have too much Americana although Grascals seem more country than most with their song “Heartbreak Hall of Fame” being replete with finger picking, cheating spouses and fried chicken. It’s wholesome and that’s the truth.

Nothing like a bit of moody electronic bleakness to start your day and Mirny Mine duly stirs up the black clouds with “Dream”. The song isn’t short of atmosphere however with the neo tribal chanting providing sufficient ear grabbing enchantment.