It’s rare to find a song that leaves you awestruck a few mere seconds after pressing play, but ‘Pushing Me Away’ does all that and more. The complex acoustic guitar work, elegant strings and Steve’s gritty vocals are more than enough to make this an early contender for song of the year. By the time you’ve thrown the Eastern influences, airy backing vocals and expressive percussion into the mix, the song just ascends to a higher plane. There’s something mystical about this track, like Steve is channeling some ancient spirit, and just by listening to it you can feel somehow connected to the world around you. Far from pushing you away, this track draws you in deeper under its spell with each listen as you bask in this incredible display of artistry.
Top Tracks: The Minnesota Child – Stay With Me
Don’t be too deceived by the dreary days, spring is just around the corner, and there’s no better song to announce its arrival than ‘Stay With Me’. With this track Ethan Buckner (aka The Minnesota Child) cuts through the gloom like the first rays of the rising sun as the ethereal folk intro gives way to bright and uplifting pop. Taken from his latest EP Fireflies, released 2nd February, the song boasts the kind of rich imagery that instantly carries you away. Picture yourself on a road trip through forests and by mountain streams with someone you love, unsure what you are more thankful for: to bask in the bountiful beauty of nature or to have someone special there to share it with. Wherever you feel like heading, this is the song to take you there.
Top Tracks: Oh Malô – Don’t Look, Don’t Stare
As time goes by the once firm boundary between genres blurs more and more, to the point where electronics are a key element for bands seeking to explore new territories and even create their own. With their new single, Brooklyn’s Oh Malô utilise electronic flourishes alongside alt rock and post punk instrumentation to build a glitchy, frenetic tension that is perfect for fans of Radiohead and newer Bon Iver. ‘Don’t Look, Don’t Stare’ keeps you on edge with its panicked percussion and anxious angular riffs. It feels like a song of restrained chaos, ready to let loose the tempest but instead letting the pressure build. You can practically feel a frenzied mix of apprehension and anticipation prickling at your skin as it teases a release that never comes. The release just isn’t necessary when the build-up is this good.
Cell Solutions: The Phone Dilemma
Jack White’s latest tour has been making headlines with it’s no phone policy in order to promote a more “human” experience. This is nothing new, as his previous tours included a message asking fans to put their phones away and rely on the professional pics from the tour photographer to satisfy their social media needs. The difference this time around is the fact that a humble request has escalated to actually enforcing a venue-wide ban, which has been seen as a very heavy-handed move and prompted others to question the problem surrounding the use of mobile phones at gigs. Continue reading
Top Tracks: Monti – Cowards Castle
We all build emotional walls around ourselves to a certain degree, but some people find it all too easy to take things too far. They keep building brick by brick, pushing you further and further away, and before you know it you realise they sit atop some lofty spire while you’re left out in the cold. There’s no point beating bloody fists at the gates of the citadel, when you can barely even recognise the person atop the tower as someone that you once cared about. This stunning new track sees Monti walk away dignity and purpose as the walls crumble to dust behind her. Full of pop sensibilities, boasting passionate soulful vocals and a cathartic guitar driven climax, ‘Cowards Castle’ is one of the first big stand-out songs of the year.
Top Tracks: Annachristie Sapphire – Cut The Line
I always take delight in discovering tracks that blur the line between genres, but I’ve yet to come across a song that blurs a decades long divide in styles the way that this does. Kicking off with a hazy 90s melancholy that recalls the likes of Jeff Buckley or the Smashing Pumpkins, before bursting into dreamy 50s doo-wop, ‘Cut The Line’ shares a superb interplay of light and dark. Not a combination you perhaps consider, but it sure as hell works. Lyrically the song takes the old adage about there being “plenty of fish in the sea” and takes it a step further, as Annachristie contemplates reeling in her love. I feel like this song is ahead of the curve, like it should be the next big trendsetting track. Needless to say, Annachristie is on to a winner with this one.
Spotlight!: Cameron Jones
Great art need not come in the form of some grand sweeping gesture. Sometimes the most humble and unassuming creations can have the most profound effect on us, providing that they come from the heart. In the case of Cameron Jones, he just seems to radiate beautiful melodies as though with all the effortless ease of breathing. Crafting mature and refined songs that exude elegance and encompass you like the morning mist, and with a voice as pure as some faultless crystal, Cameron is one of the most gifted new singer/songwriters on the scene. ‘Let Me In’ builds up layers of atmospheric synths, dreamy guitar tones and expressive percussion to form a chilled out indie vibe reminiscent of The Paper Kites. The driving beat and simple yet illuminating riffs of ‘Love You Save Me’ pull you in deeper and deeper as the song progresses, while the stripped back piano balladry of ‘Warning’ gives Cameron’s vocals a chance to shine. Cameron Jones is yet to disappoint, and should that continue then we may have something deeply special from him in the near future.
Fans of Holy Holy, Lorne, The Paper Kites and Meadowlark should check out his latest EP Warning.
Album Review: Glen Hansard – Between Two Shores
Glen Hansard – Between Two ShoresInterview: Ophelia
It’s always a delight to see artists that you admire grow and achieve great things. Sheffield based duo Ophelia have quickly become firm Belwood favourites, and their eagerly anticipated debut has set the year off in fine form and is sure to stand as one of the most memorable releases of 2018. Heartwarming Americana, folk as delicate as some flickering candle flame, and haunting gothic rock are all to be found within Blackbox Memories. I’ve been looking forward to interviewing Ophelia for some time now, and it struck me as the perfect opportunity to delve deeper into their new record: Continue reading
Top Tracks: Percival Elliott – Forever
It’s happened to me more times than I care to admit; you see some beautiful stranger and suddenly it’s like your eyes have opened for the first time, and in that moment you see your whole life together. Some blissful parallel world of lifelong love and devotion enthralls your day-dreams, before they disappear never to be seen again. This gorgeous track from folk duo Percival Elliott captures that same fateful spark. With its elegant orchestration and vocals reminiscent of Five For Fighting, ‘Forever’ carries an ineffable air of charm and romanticism. This poignant track from their forthcoming debut Save Your Soul feels like a song from another time, a precious relic long since forgotten, reminding us that there is still a place in this world for hope, innocence and romance.
Belwood Music 