Song reviews

When it comes down to it, we all like a good pop song and that is what “Castle Keep” is. Relaxed and with enough in the way of jangly guitars and knowing winks to the past to keep the retro team on her side, Sasha Bell gets the job done.

Another purveyor of low key bedsit melancholy, Laurent Bourque stays close to genre expectations but still finds the space to let his song “Lightning Mood” breathe deeply and thus finds the emotions necessary to sigh once more at the frailties of the world.

The past is the new black once more with Foxy Mojo digging out all the dirty guitar love that history has given us and spreading it all over their riff laden song “Till The Morning Light”. That said, add a dash of volume and this song becomes a tasty Friday night snack.

I sense a message of solidarity underneath the eloquent melancholy that provides the motive power for “Brothers”. The Pillow Queens are reliable purveyors of such things so this one won’t disappoint their fans one bit.

It takes a notable degree of musical skill to infuse the near robotic precision of a song like “AI Am In Love” with emotional impact and Novaa pulls it off by using her minimalist approach to melody and lyrics to add a definite hypnotic appeal.

The pounding drums and jagged guitars may suggest another indie rock contender to many but St Andrews Fall clearly like to move things further up the musical ladder and “It’s Never You” has been brought up on a diet of Scottish rock to do just that.

Locked to the loop synth pop will never go out of fashion and Niki Kand adds to the appeal of such things by adding her own wistful style stamp. “Sexy But Sad” isn’t the biggest song you will ever hear but you will want hug her after you hear it.

Can’t say that I have heard of Me Not You before but “Does Anybody Out There Care?” is the kind of song that makes you curious to hear more. Appealing female vocals give the bleak lyrics the necessary impact and the song even has a guitar solo. Thumbs up!

A bit of drama goes a long way and Oliver Spalding spreads it right out to the length of his song “Xanax”. He has the voice for commercial success and, accordingly, the radio friendly song plays to the ears of the many.

Another song that benefits from cranking up the volume, “Money Honey” gives Felin the opportunity to show that she can kick down the walls in under three minutes whilst still staying on the subversive side of the street.

Distinctly insistent, “Radiant Star” gives Sofia Härdig another opportunity to stamp her purposeful presence upon a song. Whilst almost post rock in her musical stance, Ms. Härdig throws enough in the way of quirkiness to turn the song into a medium sized steamroller.

Keeping it simple works well for Dublin band Hook and the straightforward sentimentality of their song “I Love The World Because You’re In It” passes the time in a pleasantly direct way. Sometimes that is all that you need.