Song reviews

Subtle and sensitive, the supportive balance between the male and female vocals that make up The Paper Shades drift “Strong” out into the pond of folk and Americana influences. Not so much blown by the wind of change as under the control of a gentle breeze, this song is nicely executed conventionality.

Once more into those retro synth grooves as Modern Family Unit entice us to do the resurrection shuffle to their curiously hypnotic exercise in finger snapping to the click of the robotic beat. “Mm mm mm ah” might well be made of plastic but it’s dirty plastic and that makes it special.

Edgy and oblique, Kaleigh Mason wanders far from the comfort zone of the average singer songwriter with “Mental Illness” suggesting that it was reality rather than supposition that brought forth her words. The song ticks the boxes while making you look over your shoulder.

It is good to hear a real talent maturing and Lisa Crawley does just that with the subtlety of “Stranger” adding to her connoisseur appeal. All you need is love, said the Beatles, but the truth is all that you need is Lisa Crawley. An antipodean Lynsey De Paul? Perhaps, perhaps, yes!

“No Surprise” shows that Kadooge - from Illinois - can fly straight as an arrow towards their musical target. Make no mistake, it’s still a mid-west rock song underneath the metal encased riffs, mystical lyrics and macho vocals but the intention here is clearly to make some proper stadium style noise.

Once more into the breach dear friends as Josefin Öhrn + the Liberation takes us on a walk through the alleyways of melancholy with “Always So Bright”. Give the song some time though and its initial black cloud will dissipate into the bright sunlight so beloved of the evangelist. Let us walk up the mountain!

It seems Scandinavian pop is unstoppable these days with Sirena’s “Lunar Lights” being yet another example of a song carefully sculpted into ear candy for the smarter than average consumer. Like Bourneville chocolate, this song is both dark and smooth.

So lightweight it might possibly float, “Wild Sisters” makes the most of its folk influences whilst providing further proof that The Birdman Rallies should be heroes to beard scratchers everywhere. Song sung thoughtfully, as it were.

You can’t go far wrong with soulful funk and that, fortunately, is a style that Soulnaturals can do in their collective sleep with Gloria Pryce keeping the words real and the heat turned up throughout “I Never Knew A Hell Like You”. This song is testifying to the 100% natural beat.

A rough and ready Glasgow duo, Velvet Bomb put up two fingers to subtlety and grind it out loud and proud instead. “Bullet to the Brain” is the kind of bare bones badass muck ’n’ roll song that deserves to be spun mercilessly at 45 rpm.

Being a moody synth pop duo from Sweden, it is perhaps no surprise that White Birches tackle weightier subjects in their words than most. Jenny Gabrielsson’s solemn vocals decorate “It’s A Hollow World” as if to accuse us all of guilt which, in the context of the song, seems like the right course of action.

Beset with both melancholy and reverb, Liza Anne nevertheless shakes off her downbeat sonic afflictions to make “Room” the kind of song that gets you the second time around. She’s from Nashville so she was never really going to stray very far from the mainstream but, that said, there is no doubting she has got the heart to go places.