Song reviews

The sheer purity and delicacy of Susanne Darre and her piano is counterposed with the ambient styled distortions of Stegonaute to give “Tidevann” a valid escape route from your ears into wherever you might wish to wander.

Kisanii gives the kind of mannered performance that suggests time well spent in musical education and “My Internal Enemy” duly carries her message more than half the way to big ballad territory.

“This Town” is about as commercial a song as you will hear these days right down to the festival friendly, waving your iPhone in the air, chorus yet NATI still manages to sound like she is just the girl next door who is going to get lucky.

Tears fall” is the kind of song that should be held high as a shining example of what can be done when style is mixed into the usually bleak darkwave melting pot and Denuit duly stalk those shadows with dramatic intent.

Australian Holly Hebe has all the hallmarks of a pop princess in the making and her song “Bitterness” should resonate nicely with an audience looking for something less plastic than her mainstream competitors.

“Join The Dots” is jaunty indie pop just like it used to be back in the days when wry lyrics were where it was at and Pat’s Alternative Bus Tour duly make you feel like you are listening to the soundtrack to a Bill Forsyth movie. Sweet.

There’s a decent level of emotional intensity to be found in “We Speak We Bleed” and Eie have rather more authentic content than is usual for a rock band these days. This is, at last, a rock song that can be enjoyed at less than maximum volume.

Remarkably, Pollyanna is actually French yet she sounds as American as you would expect of a sensitive singer songwriter of these times. ” Your Smile Is Cold” is, as you might expect, a song of the heart but it is a sincere one.

“This Town” is a nicely polished example of an off centre modern day pop song. Zanna Black duly mixes literate lyrics with guitars as the song takes you all the way to the bridge. This one will be on heavy coffee shop rotation.

If there were to be such a thing as fragile melancholy then the soundtrack for it would be something like “Sonar” by Ichiko Aoba. I have no idea what she is actually singing about but I sigh in synchronicity with her words.

The Josh Joplin Group sound distinctly mainstream and there is little doubt that they are strong on the sentiment with their song “One More Someone” confidently tugging on the heartstrings of the listener.

Dutch singer Daniel De Boer sure sounds serious and his song “Beside Me” abounds with both earnest emotion and, lyrically at least, spiritual intent. It’s a deeper meaning type of song for the kind of people who need deeper meaning.