Song reviews

Playing out like an extended soundtrack cue on a mission to find ambient nirvana, “A Military Base” appears to go with the flow yet the neatly positioned historical soundbites on mass extermination provide an unexpected counterpoint. Serious and smooth.

An earnest mid paced song, “Home Is Where You Are” plays out with more honesty than is usually required by the taste makers on the radio with Natalie Gray’s voice lifting the song up and over the rather routine backing track.

Endearingly upbeat, “Happy World” almost encourages you to smile and sing along. Soul would appear to be Italian and perhaps that explains the style component that takes this song beyond its obvious influences and out into the sunshine.

Muralim do a nice line in civilised jazz instrumentals and “Pluto” is no exception. Eminently civilised with just a hint of lounge to aid consumption by the coffee shop trendies, this song is a reminder of the benefits of a musical education.

“Get Over Yourself” poses like a rock song of times gone by but there is enough of today in the lyrics to keep things relevant to our troubled times and, as you might expect, there is a guitar solo in there to keep the Sabatta music machine on the right road.

Wistfully wandering amongst the trees are Mesaverde with their song “Moments” swooping in and out of the sunshine as it laconically rolls from beginning to end. Not bad at all with the end result being actually quite hypnotic in effect.

Not really sure what to make of this song. “The Beginning of the End”, as the title would suggest, is downbeat to the point of being grey yet I have the suspicion that there is something deeper than a sea of melancholy going on here. Perhaps I need more beer?

It’s raining outside so I suppose it is no surprise that a song as ethereal as “Toddi” would seem an appropriate soundtrack with Gillie swathing her voice in reverb to complete that sonic picture of wet autumn mornings.

Episodic and theatrical in presentation, “The End of October” seems much more than just a simple song with Grandios Sensibel successfully emoting much melancholy. I love the smell of complexity in the morning and this song is nothing if not that.

Kodact take their song “Numbers” for a stroll along the mellow path and, with the decidedly laidback and understated presentation restraining everything, you might well miss out on this sad song. It’s end credit music without a doubt.

“Numbers” sounds like a child of a dancefloor with the solid robotic beat certain to track the song straight into the better clubs. YME’s impassioned, if circuitous, vocals lift the song out of the digital abyss and put it right into your Mercedes.

Another song that will drift about inside your head, “Aelita” plays like a soundtrack to something spiritual and seems as deep as the proverbial well. No matter, for Virta clearly know what they are doing so into the song we duly dive.