Song reviews

Giving us polished pop music in the modern vein is Barbi Nadas. “Overthink” ticks all the processing boxes for radio friendliness in these streaming days and, whilst not quite a feminist anthem, the song deserves a listen.

Jordana of Earth is a cool name and, unsurprisingly, “Need To Know” is a cool song with her classy vocals joining together with urban beats to produce sounds that many will class as soulful. It’s one that Chevy Suburban owners will take to their heart.

Jangly and offbeat in the same stanza, Burn The Louvre nudge themselves further towards country rock territory with their song “Easy.” The lyrics aren’t as casual as the tune, however, and you can tell that the best is yet to come.

Putting together something resembling a funk beat isn’t common these days but Glass Bandit – from Austin Texas – do a very decent job of sounding like they have just stepped out of a time machine and “Ghost” stomps with both style and a guitar solo.

Sone fey folk stylings give “All Behind” by Dr Fabola a bit of ear candiness and yet the lasting impression is of one of several minutes of seriousness and social commentary. It’s an acoustic singer songwriter thing at the end of the day.

There is plenty of reverb to tease the ear in “The World’s Gone Still Now” and Hannah Schneider has no problem navigating this downbeat song. Not the kind of song that makes you smile, “The World’s Gone Still Now” nonetheless has a hypnotic appeal.

Both robotically powered and delivered in a deadpan style, “One Minus One” makes you feel like you have stumbled into somebody else’s misery. The lyrics seem superficially uplifting but Cornelis Gerard clearly knows the meaning of counterpoint.

Smelling sweetly of bedroom compression and sequencer fascism, L Y S plunder the urban genre for inspiration and glue their song together with disjointed vocals and discordant synths. There a dancefloor remix in there somewhere.

One more for the nu soul crew. RÓQA and SENA – from Hungary no less – hit the smooth road for a trip back to the days when urban was still young and fresh. The groove is right and this song makes you feel all warm and sentimental about those bygone days.

Now you’re talking. Simultaneously ridiculous and nearly drowning in irony. “Beyond Repair” takes you on a theatrical, almost camp, four and a half minute journey into a parallel world full of posh city festival audiences and quirky existentialism. Mad Meg are the bomb!

Not much gospel music this way comes. Yet, “Our God” by Ruth Campbell did and her song is, as you might expect, wholesome in content and, perhaps surprisingly, elegantly sung and easy on even these decidedly secular ears.

Jen Ash revs up her nineties’ style engine and takes her song “Crush On You” for a drive down to the kind of cool clubs where only the best people get in. The ghost of the dancefloor comes along for the ride but she is the one that takes control your ears.