Song reviews

Robust in execution, Step By Step-Project tick all the mainstream rock radio style boxes with solid musicianship much to the fore. Seraina Telli’s in your face vocals provide enough colour and attitude to make “Listen” worthy of, wait for it, a listen.

They say that the Devil has all the best tunes and Altareth provide proof that the horned one isn’t into sharing. “Satan Hole” is, in truth, more overdriven grunge than doom metal but the short guitar solo compensates somewhat for the sledgehammer bleakness.

Synth pop has always had a special place in my heart and Katherine Aly digs up some old school sequencer moves for “Glow & Ignite” and tops them off with some sweet vocals and a girl next door attitude. She’s the maple syrup on my French toast.

Retro melodrama from Eddie Monroe but, let’s face it, you can’t go far wrong when you counterpoint showtune on steroids vocals with an excess of piano and a bucketful of powerful riffs. There was a time indeed.

Looping like a super cool lady on a mission to move music into the better part of town, Amaris twists her song “Time Traveler” into a soundtrack suitable for playback in a top of the range hybrid Lexus. Smooth!

Melodic and always unafraid of taking it to the bridge, Caroline Sky is the kind of songstress that can make any song easy on the ear and it is therefore no surprise that “Dancing in July” is both polished and sonorous.

Quirky in a good way, “Me Myself and I” ricochets between 8 bit and Celtic with the angular lyrics easily keeping the song on course and marking Fieldsy as more than a just a big city festival favourite. Let there be an album forthcoming!

It has been a week for happy songs but “Daydream Blues” most certainly isn’t a happy song. Nonetheless, Cherry White infuse their song with more than enough angst and melancholy to ensure your attention does not wander.

Girl power is here to stay, and Grace Otto duly kicks the walls hard with her song “You’re The Worst”. There’s acid in her words and, with her sledgehammer delivery, she soon moves ahead of the crowd. Shifting gear!

“Special Place in Hell” has the trendy retro vibe of the time when the mall was the place to be yet Suzi Moon injects enough modern hard edged cynicism to move her guitar powered song through time into today.

Robust in the way that songs of the big city usually are, “Kill Me Sweetie” resonates through those very streets with the female vocals, guitar riffs and pounding drums proving that Shadow Monster can run any traffic light they might encounter.

If you seek the comfort of the conventional then “If I Leave” by Canada’s Stefani Parnell will provide you with that which you seek. The song is a ballad and is moves neatly and sweetly from start to finish. One for the radio.