Song reviews

You don’t have to be happy to smile and, with a twinkle in their collective eyes, Reyna turn their song “Lonely Girl” into something that transcends the song’s shadowy synth pop stylisations to venture forward into your musical memory.

The mainstream used to be a happy place to be but not today and, with “Runaway”, Emi Jeen duly gives us a soundtrack to accompany the voices lost in the crowd. It’s an empty plastic world we live in and she knows it.

Few musicians can keep their finger on the pulse of today in the way that George Barnett can. “Parasite” is locked to the loop and full of retro stylistic influences yet the end result still sounds fresh as tomorrow’s smoked salmon sandwich.

I am told that there was a time when folk music was a playful thing often infused with more than a modicum of class A quirkiness. “Paid My Dues” by Crooked Weather harks back to those mystical days and duly manages to induce a big smile.

Squeezed all the way into distortion, “The Blame” rumbles like a synth on a bedroom massacre mission with Violent Vickie herself echoing round inside your head like a witch high on discontent. Shadows are the new truth.

Few understand bitterness than Kandle and her song “Better Man” lays it on line one more time. Maturity is clear and present in her voice and the elegant arrangement takes it to the bridge just like such a song should. Quality.

Agreeably rhythmic, Slovo trip the isolation breakers with their song “Snake”. There is enough in the way of offbeat ideas and urban charm to make the self-reflective lyrics into a door to the reality of the day. Engage the sky!

At a guess, I’d say that Shatterglass were an American band. “Sick” has all the menacing power chords that a hard rock song of today should have and enough machismo in the vocals to make a man wish for the return of hair rock.

This one sounds like it has dropped out of rather more trippy times than today with Sophia Knapp infusing “Lazuli” with enough in the way of jingle jangle and wandering lyrics to turn her song into an adventure. The clouds are talking to me.

As precisely constructed as a song of today needs to be, “Patience” has all the modern style boxes ticked yet NOA neatly counterpoints the artificiality inherent to the computer music box with her straight to the point style.

You can sense the menace hiding in the shadows of “Goldrush” and Little Thief duly thud, rumble and emote their way through their song with an entirely convincing sense of directional purpose. Add beer and volume for maximum enjoyment.

Some songs seem light enough to float, and “Butterfly” is one of them with Ilja Alexander throwing in enough in the way of fey lyrics to keep his song from ever falling back down to earth. I feel my mind drifting away as I listen.