Song reviews

It’s been a week for songs with a purpose and “Diggin” by Harley Olivia was no exception with solid riffage underpinning her robustly delivered words and, with the volume turned up to 11, you can truly appreciate her intentions. Boom!

if you mix irony in with plastic pop as well as Havanna Winter can then fame can’t be far away. “Hollywood” pulls together all the right commercial influences yet it is her ability to polish things to perfection in under three minutes that impresses the most.

There’s nothing wrong with being conventional as long as you can do it with some style and that’s what SJ Mortimer does with her song “Hear Me Lover”. The song exudes radio friendliness, and her voice gives you all the reason you need to listen. It’s FM all the way.

I like a robust song in the morning. It smells like blues rock to me. Emily Mac duly hits that old time guitar riff road and, whilst doing so, confidently tells it like it is. Or how is should be anyway. She’s loud, she’s post-feminist and “Whiskey Like Me“ resonates like it is 1975.

You can go far wrong with a song as resolutely upbeat as “Is This The Guy For Me”. It might well be plastic dance pop but Michael Runswick has the voice to make this particular trip down to the club rather appealing. Yes, it’s mirrorball love time again.

Rock has another new face with Devora bringing plenty in the way of brooding synths and guitar riffs along for the ride. Her song “Wild West” struts to the three minute mark with click tracked precision and forthright attitude. It’s style and substance combined.

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.