Song reviews

The singer songwriter vibe is strong in Hannah DeLynn’s song “For The Record” and, with heartfelt sentiments and a polished production behind her, she has little trouble crossing the border into the land of commercial balladry.

Izabella Lily adds a healthy dose of maturity to the lyrics of her song “Freedom” and delivers them in a way that reinforces the earnestness of her conviction. The world needs more songs like this. It really does.

Classically styled with underlying religious inspiration, “Fac Me Cruce” successfully combines ambient electronica with the rather regal soprano voice of Sandra Lind Þorsteinsdóttir to elegant and uplifting effect. Electrio are a class act.

Time for something transcendental. Sister Wives inject enough in the way of muscular guitars and rather more delicate female vocals to make you think that “YnCanu” is some sort of trip into the mystical realm. I hear the clouds.

You can just feel that the art is strong in Ché Aimee Dorval and her song “Joyride” overlays brooding intent and emotional intensity over some stylishly presented and urban influenced beats. This is a cappuccino with chocolate sprinkles.

Erik Flaa takes a suitably mature approach to making his song “Storyline Mania” work with the tempo shifting and stretched out arrangement adding an element of theatricality but, below the surface, there is a serious point made.

“Jump Start” is an interesting concoction of heavyweight loops, fifties rock ‘n’ roll guitars and deadpan vocals. Samurai Drive duly take their song out on the style highway and just about stay within the speed limit.

If indie rock ever had an intellectual cousin then an example of this probably fictional genre would be “Even Dad Had A Fiver On Love” by Woahgetter. Laconic lead vocals and downbeat sentiments successfully keep this one out of the coffee shop.

Going full retro in both style and content, “Heart of Coal” sounds like it could have fallen off the late sixties folk rock bandwagon yet, with maturity much to the fore, Martin John Henry has no problem selling his song to my ears.

Polish skate punk band CF98 hit the retro road with their upbeat anthem “1993” sounding just like it was actually from the halcyon days of pop punk. Any song that makes you happier just by listening to it works for me.

“New Eden” does not lack in emotional intensity and St Catherine’s Child’s confident approach to the delivery of downbeat songs full of melancholy and self-reflection is more than enough to make you hope and pray for a better tomorrow.

If your musical tastes stretch to pop punk then you will likely find “Forget My Name” by Dial Drive to your taste with frenetic drumming, power chords and square peg in a round hole lyrics all being present and correct.