Song reviews

Initially seeming so fey that irony must have been the true motivation for their song “Vultures” , Delta Mainline then neatly sidestep accusations of insubstantiality with a robust take it to the bridge and make those lighters wave in the air finale. Delta Mainline are the designer dress that you simply have to wear to all those festivals.

“Getting Outta Here” shows that Glasgow band The Burnt Bridges have the fighting spirit in them and, despite an obvious adoration for the three chord mantra of indie rock, they manage to punch above their weight and credit is duly given to the casually aggressive style of singer Mark O’Neil.

Endearingly naturalistic in her approach, Roslyn Moore transcends the awkward electro pop foundations of “Breathless” and makes the song a matter of the heart. All good songs start there.

The Division Men turn up the acoustic atmosphere and inject “Marionette” with just enough of the shadows necessary to put Caroline Rippy Portillo’s voice into the spotlight. Indeed they ramble but it is a good thing that they do.

Adrift in the currents of her own personal sea of melancholy, MaryLeigh Roohan once again makes the confessional melodic and, whilst perhaps not a song with immediate appeal, “My Friends” nonetheless provides all the proof you need that she is a performer possessed of both insight and intelligence.

Kind of old fashioned yet still convincing, Sunshine and The Blue Moon roll with the flow all the way through their song “Lucy”. They’re not quite lava lamp but the good time rock vibe of the past is present and correct for all to hear.

I often worry that I might miss a true parody but, despite the sarcastic application of the musical limitations inherent to bedsit electronica, Sb shows that, with his song “Woman”, he is right up there with the best of them.

Despite claiming to be British folk rock, Pat Nicholson’s song “Come With Me” seems more akin to old school Nashville style country music with all that is musical being efficiently painted in shades of mellow. A song, therefore, that is easy as easy can be on the ear

Formerly purveyors of lo-fi bedsit electronica, Edinburgh’s Sacre Noir maintain their links to both the shadows and the sequencer whilst injecting enough in the way of riffs and robust female vocals into “Listen To Me” to take their appeal all the way into the bleaker end of the rock pantheon. A mascara anthem if I ever heard one.

It must be a side effect of summer but everyone seems to be singing happy songs this week and “England” is no exception. Ilana J may well have a rather romanticized outlook on life but is that not the very thing that sells pop songs? A sweetheart of a singalong song.

It’s not often that I can describe a song as uplifting but that is the very thing that I have to do with Egi and Firsta’s song “Song For You”. The evidence of a musical education is there for all to hear but it is the heart and soul powering Firsta’s eminently civilised voice that makes the song special.

Wholesome and entirely reverential to the expectations of the Americana genre, Blackheart Honeymoon wrap up “Mountains Speak” in west coast ribbons and sent it out to the worthy audiences who attend roots festivals who, I expect, will welcome it with open arms.