Song reviews

Fred Abbott, formerly of Noah and The Whale, shows his true spirit and accordingly romps through his song “Adrenaline” like a man high on the glory days of American rock music. The guitars aren’t big enough for the job but our Mr. Abbott nonetheless throws his hat into the ring with this one.

A sweet slice from the Scottish indie pop cake, “Sister” shows that TeenCanteen can sugar coat even a message of solidarity and that’s a sure way to capture both ears and heart in little more than three minutes. A job well done, as they say.

Despite the reggae rhythms, Rebel and The Hearts actually hail from the Isle of Wight and their song “Little Emily” chugs incessantly forward powered by just an acoustic guitar and a bit of percussion. In days gone by this song would have been considered a demo but, in these plastic enhanced days, the minimalism is refreshing.

“My Only Vice” is another example of an androgynous electro pop song of the kind designed with the dance floor in mind that regularly escapes the boundaries of Sweden. Ms. Henrik, as always, throws his heart into the strobe lit words.

“Counterfeit” may well be a mainstream song about the overlapping reality and illusion of a man but Jenn Bostic has the voice to make such routine things radio friendly and easy on the ear. The same old story perhaps but well told.

Understated but curiously compelling nonetheless, Nova Heart, who hail from Beijing, show a mastery of melancholic electro minimalism with “Lackluster No.” exhibiting hypnotic characteristics. The beat may be plastic but her voice exudes urban conviction.

The robust voice of Michael Tomlinson adds some dignity to “Burn Together” and Many Things, despite some electro rock seasoning, are most likely to remind people of Deacon Blue at about the time they sold out and became megastars.

Possessed of an unaffected voice, Sweden’s Jenny Hansen sets out to convince us of the benefits of her naturalistic approach to performance with “Wanderer” being as much of the lost heart of folk as it is of the barren wilderness of urban electro landscape. Spiritual, for once, is the word.

“Sweet Death Polka” rambles like some parody of the madrigal form before striking out energetically for the prize of best extended impersonation of the excesses of seventies folk rock and, if you can handle all six minutes of that, you will surely believe that scarecrows have souls. God bless Glasgow’s Trembling Bells for their injudicious consumption of “organic” mushrooms.

If you like your rock insistent and persistent then Texas band Seek Irony might well make you break into a sweat with their song “Devil In Me” pushing all the right commercial buttons whilst testing the effectiveness of your deodorant. Best enjoyed with the volume turned right up but you were probably going to do that anyway.

Danny Darko returns to his preferred dance floor rhythms with “Hurricane”. As you might expect, it’s all in the groove but Julien Kelland’s confident vocal gives the song some soul and consequently takes it beyond the plastic.

“I’ve Got You” is nice example of middle of the road soft rock with Troy Doherty, apparently also an actor, clearly setting his sights on the big money to be found in Nashville. It’s a safe, if busy, path for him to follow.