Song reviews

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.

High on laptop melancholy, Dylyn throws the big betrayal into the lyrics of her song “Secret” making the end result burn with a quite decent level of intensity. She sounds like she should be more famous than she is.

There is no doubt that “Human” shows that Eckoes has the imagination that many musicians lack with her song mixing together the kind of samples that will enchant the intelligentsia with the kind of streetwise rhythms that will attract the masses. Top the song off with some entrancing vocals and the job is done and done well.

You can’t really grow out of the three minute pop song – God knows I’ve tried – so I took an immediate liking to Canadian band Fake Shark’s song “Heart 2 Heart”. OK, so the song actually runs 16 seconds over 3 minutes but the combination of eighties electro pop groove and good time lyrics proved irresistible. May the force be with them always.

Pleasing enough to the ear with the festival friendly polish that we have come to expect from Nordic artists entranced by Americana, Sarah Klang coasts through her moody song “Strangers” with both a heavy heart and wistful intent.

Oh, she’s Canadian. Not that it really matters as Stacey has clearly targeted Aimee Mann territory with her song “First Move” and scores valuable points for a confident and pleasing voice that lasts longer in the memory than the song that brought her to my attention.

So you have a London based rock band (called Kill For Eden) with some forthright female vocals and you have a song (called “Woke Up Alone”). What do you get when you put them together? Something rather more theatrical than you would expect of a rock band these days even if you wish they were just a bit more dangerous.

Pleasingly old-fashioned – and I mean that in a good way – Ian Thompson takes the feel good early seventies vibe and applies it liberally to his song “Inspiration” with the result being basically uplifting. That’s a nice thing to be in these dark days

Viniloversus turned out to be a Venezuelan band although their neatly polished song “Disintegrate Me” suggests overwhelming influences from the better parts of the good old US of A. Nonetheless this is a good commercial career move and a good commercial song with enough style to make it stand out from the crowd.

The downbeat vocals make “Sniper” something of a Monday morning song but Selfoss add enough eighties style meandering synths to keep your ears interested for the four minute plus running time.

Taking a rather laconic approach to the much loved, and usually upbeat, guitar pop format, Laughed The Boy stride purposely through their song “Indifferent” on their way to the Emerald City.

Wholesome, as all practitioners of Americana seem destined to be, Norway’s Darling West make a sonorous sound with their song “The Sweetest Tune” with only Mari Sandvær Kreken’s perfect diction hinting that this band is a product of somewhere other than the dustbowls of the good old US of A.