What can one say? “Insomnia” is super cool Nordic electro pop and AyOwA season it with more than enough melancholy to remind us that the nights are getting longer and that nightmares will rule our sleep.
Goodnight Sunrise keep it simple with their song “Remember Now” yet the result has a certain retro appeal with the voice of Vanessa Vakharia and those robust old school synth sounds driving the song along that dark and dusty road to the past.
Veering randomly between the manic and the ironic, London’s The Coolness strike their way past insanity and inanity with the retro robotic “Chicken Leg Girl”. Genius comes in many forms and this song could well be the evidence of modern day musical Einsteins. Now all I NEED is a Mitsubishi Evo.
Sonia Stein keeps it conventional with her song “Do You Love Me” with matters of the heart once more taking centre stage in front of a pleasing New York retro style backing. It’s easy on the ear and that seems to be the way to go these days.
“Joanna” starts out in the style of a murder ballad but it isn’t the Devil having this fun this time around and the song soon heads off into the kind of emotional blackness that is a stranger to anything Americana these days. Ten points are duly scored by Blitzen Trapper for keeping it real.
Pleasingly melodic in that festival friendly kind of way, Circumnavigate are nonetheless possessed of enough in the way of shadow and sunshine to make their song “Secret” seem somewhat spiritual in both intent and execution.
Infused with grunge and reeking of beer soaked basements, Canadian band Julie & The Wrong Guys walk the melancholy line with “Farther From You” like some hippies on their way to Seattle in search of eternal inspiration.
With “Upside Down”. Featurette demonstrate a mastery of irony with their song using discordant simplicity, lopped repetition and nursery rhyme lyrics to comment on our dystopian times whilst cleverly remaining within the boundaries of the currently trendy Nordic electrowave style.
A Swedish rock band in the old school style, LÅNGFINGER keep to the rules and duly muscle their way confidently through their song “Say Jupiter” like it was 1975 and with all you would want in power chords and sweat.
Alana Henderson takes a dash of folky mysticism and a pinch of Americana and uses them to season her song “Let This Remain” to perfection. It’s the kind of song that washes over you and leaves you refreshed.
“Turn Me On” initially sounds like a time stretched escapee from the dancefloor but closer examination suggests that Violet Rose has a darker soul that complements the urban ennui that drives the song forward.
Casually paced but with more than a hint of mysticism underpinning the words, “City of My Mind” is more reflective, and perhaps more ambitious, song than most would attempt yet Jewelia has enough charm and artistic presence to pull it off.
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