Song reviews

Entertainingly upbeat, Miss Chain & The Broken Heels could start a montage on any decent television series with their song “Hunters of Hope” easily demonstrating that their energetic pop punk moves could easily cause an attack of rapidly intercut visuals.

If, in the good old US of A, there is still such a thing as FM radio then Georgia Reed would have no problem getting her song “Haunted” on to a playlist. The song is polished and professionally put together so don’t touch that dial.

“Rodeo” is one of those elegantly performed songs that exudes musical maturity and that is exactly what might be expected of Glasgow’s very own Chiara Berardelli. There’s plenty of melancholy in there too yet that second listen doesn’t hurt at all.

It’s all about the song, or so they say, and “Reject” is indeed a song with the mix of slick arrangement and mature lyrics highlighting the fact that Alice Faye shows all the signs of being able to nail it down just like Carole King did back in the day. Classy.

You can’t go far wrong with a bit of old school redemption rock and Ben Hemming duly follows the path to sonic righteousness with guitars and power chords keeping his suitably world weary voice company on the journey.

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?