Song reviews

If your tastes run to pleasingly oblique continental pop then "H!!! Hue H!!! Han" by Josy & The Pony vs. The Poneymen should suit you down to the ground and, while some may accuse our European friends of turning arthouse pretension into sugar coated ear candy, their manic charm prevails.

Thoughtful and redolent of the kind of soundtrack that you used to get attached to Hollywood movies of the early seventies, “From The Mouth of the City” exudes class and a certain jazzy elegance thus showing that Garden is full of flowers rather than weeds.

Pleasingly electro-retro in their approach, Canadian band Monarch step out with their song “Remember Me” and duly stomp their way into their three minutes – OK, four minutes and seven seconds - of well justified potential fame.

It would appear that Storm The Palace are from Edinburgh which might well explain the downbeat tone that threatens to overcome “DLR Dreaming” but the wistful female vocals save the day and, by the end, nearly steal my heart.

Whilst melancholic Nordic electro pop seems the way to go for Sigrid, “Don’t Kill My Vibe” also demonstrates that expressed emotion and taking it to the bridge big style will always lift the spirits of the listener.

“Low Blows” is a nicely balanced midrange song that exudes the kind of confidence and old style FM radio friendliness that could make Meg Mac less a stranger than a friend to your ears.

There’s angst everywhere in the desert that we call the city and The Little Miss has harvested it to bring life and purpose to her song “Doubt”. Oddly enough, the press release tries to pass this off as Americana – the music of the nearly but not quite dead - when it is in fact it is downtown, down home and driven by a deadly guitar right into the sunset. Redemption is what it is.

Many good things come from Belgium – Westmalle Trippel springs immediately to mind – so it was no surprise that Benjamin Schoos, and his song “Visiter La Lune”, demonstrates that style still has its place in modern music even if the ghost of even classier Frenchmen like Joe Dassin haunts the lyrics.

Given its simplicity, it is remarkable that Krrum’s song “Moon” achieves the level of ear friendliness that it does. No doubt he has a hipster beard but there is still enough feeling between the sequenced beats to make this a song of the heart rather than one of the street.

Always a class act and one who can evoke emptiness with minimal effort, Luna Green twists her song “Lotus Interception” out of shape as if reflecting the contradictions inherent in passion. Listen to it twice (at least) for maximum benefit. I am your doctor and you can trust my judgment on this matter.

Middleweight is the fighting class for the siblings Ryan, Daniel and Brianna with their song “Trouble Making” taking care to offend no one in the battle for musical victory with the meandering guitar taking the role of coach throughout.

A neat and tidy example of mid-paced modern day electro pop, “Face On” shows that duo Ider have learned the lessons of modern pop music and then distilled it all into one, soon familiar, song. The inherent irony of such an approach has clearly not been forgotten either.