Song reviews

Demonstrating that seventies style rock is the one and only way to go is Doris Brendel. Her voice suggests that she is using bourbon as mouthwash but her song “The Devil Closed the Door of Me” nonetheless reeks of the truth. When it comes down to it, we all seek the truth (and a good guitar solo).

There is a lot of easy on the ear electro pop coming out of Sweden these days and Heart/Dancer provide, with their song “Under”, yet another example of what can be achieved by combining wistful melancholy with a synthesizer.

Keeping it loud are Plastique. “Lips” is the name of their song and even the relentless electro rock groove and gratuitous use of power chords cannot overcome the power and magnetism inherent in Anelise Kunz’s voice. Yes!

Certainly not lacking in moody intensity, The Secret Storm evoke the shadows effectively with “The Dragon”. The violin and guitar support the sultry female vocals admirably but it is the words that take this song into the adult world.

With a pleasingly rough edge to his voice, James Clark (and his Hangover) stamps his honesty all over his song “Maria”. It’s an old rock school approach but he carries it off.

Downright lively and, dare I say it, catchy, “Gimme Resurrection” neatly demonstrates that New York’s Anya Marina knows it is all in the song and, with a pop meets seventies rock groove powering things, you will soon be singing along to this one as you sit at the traffic lights of life.

A solid of example of a singer songwriter with a message, Auna Sims throws in enough drama into “Right Place” to get her inspirational words across.

This might well be rock Canadian style but Mother Leads pull the best out of the past and top up “When Time Will Slow Down” with more than enough steroids to ensure that the song can bench press its own weight.

Although from modern day Russia, Fizica draw heavily from the history of European pomp rock for the influences that drive their song “The Melody of Our World” relentlessly forward. It’s a big bombastic song, as you might expect, but Maria Stepanova’s voice provides a subtle counterpoint to the power chords and synth riffs.

About as indie pop as you can get these days, Manwomanchild exude politeness and intellectual intent all through the way through their song “Return To Ithaca”. That said, I kept drawing unconscious comparisons to early Depeche Mode as I listened so it was something of a surprise to learn that singer David Child is actually American. That makes them, or him, OK by me.

With his spirited voice working in his favour, Erik Smallwood manages to make “Water In My Hometown” both mainstream Nashville and subtly sentimental at the same time and duly turns it into an easy on the ear pickup driving kind of song.

A pleasingly robust pop song seasoned with a more than a hint of sixties’ style experimentation, “Cloud Nine” allows London’s Shannon Wardrop to make that all important mark on your consciousness. Her voice exudes confidence and that’s all she needs to get by. Trust me.