Great art always tells a story, but it doesn’t always spell out the plot for you. Often the most compelling creative works are those that endeavour to ignite a creative spark in others, art that encourages you to let your imagination run wild. I maintain a high bar of excellence in my head when it comes to instrumental music, it needs to be something that plucks a whole other world out of the depths of my subconscious, and I have to say that ‘Searching’ scratches that itch perfectly. This new track from millhope, the moniker of Cologne based artist Thomas Mühlhoff, immediately conjures for me a sense of exploration and wonder. The mix of 80s synth vibes and eerie electronics evokes a retro-futurist sci-fi adventure, where the harshness of the cold empty expanse of the cosmos is kept at bay by the indomitable spark of curiosity and optimism for whatever new discoveries may lie ahead.
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Live Review: The National, First Direct Arena Leeds, 23rd Sept 2023
It’s been quite a year for National fans. Little did I know, when grabbing tickets for their latest tour, that 2023 would see Cincinnati’s finest releasing two new albums mere months apart, with the latter of which in particular feeling like a true reignition of the band’s passion and creativity. All that fresh ammunition for their spellbinding live shows, including some tracks that rank alongside the very best in their already bountiful back catalogue. In stark contrast to the last time I saw them, where my hype faded in the wake of a lacklustre record, my excitement and anticipation only grew with every taste of new music offered. If they could blow me away live before, touring an album that I didn’t really connect with, then I knew that this reinvigorated incarnation of the band would reach a new level of excellence. Continue reading
Top Tracks: Jamie Yost – This Is Home
Do you believe in love at first sight? Can one form a truly deep connection that quickly, or is it merely something surface level that has you fooled? For every hopeless romantic that believes whole-heartedly, there’s a world-weary soul who has been burned too many times to dare dream of it. It’s a question that’s been debated for an age, and I’d never presume to have a definitive answer worth offering. However, after hearing ‘This Is Home’, I think I can say with some certainty that I believe in love at first listen. From the very second I heard Jamie Yost’s soulful vocals echoing across an airy expanse of subtle electronics, conjuring something beautiful from a seemingly empty space like a sunbeam catching the dust, I was sold. By the time cinematic percussion and gorgeous spellbinding saxophone have kicked in, recalling the elegance of Bon Iver’s opulent self-titled record, it was already too late – I’d long since already fallen. I guess it’s true what they say; home truly is where the heart is.
Album Review: The National – Laugh Track
Top Tracks: nodisco. – A Long Talk At Taylor’s
Much like albums, songs have a sweet spot that constitutes the perfect run-time. A song that’s too long or too short, straying too far outside that Goldilocks zone, needs to go the extra mile to impress you in order to justify it. The pitfalls of a lengthy song are self explanatory – it needs to have plenty to say, and it needs to deliver it in a way that keeps the audience invested for the duration – but what about a short song? Tracks like that can’t afford to waste a moment, every second is a precious commodity. There’s little room for an arrangement to grow and develop, no time afforded to dawdle at a leisurely pace, only so many chances for a chorus to sink its hooks into you. It has to charge in all guns blazing. ‘A Long Talk At Taylor’s’ is the perfect blueprint. Over just 2 and half minutes it delivers an unrelenting barrage of electrifying hyper-pop positivity. A fleeting flash flood of upbeat energy strong enough to shake loose every last shadow clouding your mind. From its effervescent groove and razor sharp riffs, to its irresistible earworm chorus and its euphoric tale of new love blooming, this joyous adrenaline shot of a track just hits with the unrelenting momentum of a freight train.
Top Tracks: Sofia Talvik – Circle of Destruction
I used to think that songs like this could change the world. That a big enough outpouring of love and compassion could overcome all the greed and callousness in the world, and provide a Christmas Carol-esque revelation to make the wicked see the error of their ways. ‘Circle of Destruction’, from Swedish singer/songwriter Sofia Talvik, feels like it could have been plucked straight from the golden age of 60s folk protest anthems. “There’s a fear and there’s hate that grows within, Gotta find a way to to not give in, Together is the only way we’ll win” – its message of peace and solidarity, its reminder that there’s more that unites us than divides, would have felt right at home in the fields of Woodstock. But therein lies the problem; growing older means realising that we’re still singing songs about the same injustices and divisions as we did all those years ago. A better world is not so easily won. Yet so long as that hopeful flame keeps burning, there is still a chance for change. In truth the power of songs like this lies in how they warm the heart against the coldness of the world, offering a reminder that there are other compassionate souls who feel just as disillusioned as your do, and that there is always chance for a better world so long as there are people willing to stand for it.
Top Tracks: VISSIA – Doorway
Music is a serious business these days – which makes those acts willing to have a bit of fun with it, to unreservedly embrace the camp and quirky, all the more refreshing. A song like ‘Doorway’, a tale of unrequited love, stuck waiting in some liminal space, always hovering over the precipice of proper commitment, could quite easily devolve into melodrama. However, Canadian alt-pop artist VISSIA takes a different approach for the song’s visuals, turning the sweeping, cinematic, country-tinged pop balladry into the soundtrack for an earnestly camp space western. Double-crossing femme fatales and poker table shootouts, meets fun DIY sci-fi costumes that could have been plucked straight from the original Star Trek or classic Dr Who. All it takes is some chrome coloured piping, a boat-load of blue body paint, and a willingness to poke a little fun at yourself to make a memorable and entertaining music video. Truly out of this world!
Album Review: Durry – Suburban Legend
Top Tracks: Matthew And The Atlas – Record Store
We leave pieces of ourselves behind everywhere we go like a trail of breadcrumbs. The memories we make are imprinted on the very walls of our surroundings at the time, and it stands to reason then that the more well-trod locales, the places that keep drawing us back time after time, hold the most prominent echoes of our past. ‘Record Store’, the latest single from Matthew And The Atlas, is a reminder of the enduring strength of memories, and how they remain long after the rock and stone around them has weathered away. The latest cut from forthcoming album This Place We Live, out 13th October, is a tale of returning to places you’ve formed a profound connection with, only to find how they’ve changed or even vanished all together. The cherished real-world tether is gone, but the memories remain; a time capsule of a place, and a version of yourself, that no longer exists. A fittingly haunting reflection on our old haunts, ‘Record Store’ is a wonderfully wistful musing on the disconnect we’ll all eventually feel with the life we once lived.
Top Tracks: Sophia Alexa – Hall Pass
The more you have, the more that you have to lose – or at least, that’s the pessimistic view our brain takes just when things are finally going our way. When you’ve been on a losing streak for so long you start to view every win with suspicion; when you’ve had your heart broken so many times, you convince yourself that every new love will end the same way. Expect the worst and you’ll either be correct or pleasantly surprised, right? Great in theory, but in practice it’s no way to live your life. ‘Hall Pass’, the new single from singer/songwriter Sophia Alexa, is a bittersweet reflection on self sabotage. How that defence mechanism turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy, wherein a relationship becomes doomed to fail because you were scared to get too close and leave yourself vulnerable. This gorgeous slice of folk pop, awash with harmonies so potent they swell and soar like an entire orchestra, details the feeling of being unwilling to be the one to pull the plug, and instead offering the other person an out and leaving fate in their hands. There’s a blissful undercurrent to the track’s resignation, a strange comfort in knowing how things end, even if in reality it isn’t yet written in stone.
Belwood Music 