Song reviews

Describing a song as nice is probably an insult these days but “Go with You” by Mike Edel is just that – a nice song nicely sung. Whether airplay or even a market exists for such a song still exists is questionable, but it is what it is and none the worse for that.

A purveyor of hard edged pop with an American feel, Harlea strikes out for commercial success with “Beautiful Mess”. The song has montage appeal, as they say in television land, but won’t be out of place on a mainstream playlist.

Looped and verging on loopy, Irish laptop funsters Æ Mak dance merrily inside their particular brand of minimalist robotic madness and duly take their song “Love Rush” into the zone named endearing. It’s sweet and soft to the touch.

British synth funksters L.A.D. plunder the sounds of the past once more with “My Toy” mixing up the Billy Ocean groove with the playfulness of Prince to ear pleasing effect. It’s enough to make you wish for a release on a twelve-inch single.

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.