There’s all kinds of songs in the world. Music with vastly different styles and structures, with deeply contrasting moods and meanings. Despite this wealth of contrast and variety in the music we consume, we usually celebrate all the songs we love in exactly the same way; namely we listen to them again. It’s just human nature isn’t it? We keep the same song spinning on repeat, basking in every note and burning an imprint onto our brain until we move on to something else. This is the case with 99% of songs we love, but every so often we come across a song like ‘The Closest’ that demands the opposite. Steeped in meaning, melody and melancholy (and with a gorgeous stop-motion video to boot), this track from German duo Paper Waltz is testament to the fact that the saddest songs are the most beautiful. It’s the kind of song that demands your full attention, followed by a moment or two of quiet reflection to take it all in. One listen is all it takes for songs like this to occupy your mind all day long. It may be a while before you come back to listen to it again, but that only ensures that every time you hear it will be just as magical and affecting as the first time.
top tracks
Top Tracks: Brooks Dixon – Not In This Alone
I have to admit I’ve been feeling a little apprehensive about the inevitable wave of songs written about the Coronavirus and the ensuing lockdown. While I’m sure there will be nothing but good intentions behind them, it is a delicate subject that requires a gentle touch and a certain degree of empathy and tact. If any of them broach the subject anywhere near as well as ‘Not In This Alone’ however then I’ll have nothing to worry about. Despite being written, recorded, and released in a very short time frame, this new track from singer/songwriter Brooks Dixon shows remarkable mindfulness for the current situation. Touching on the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty that comes with feeling trapped, as well as the small reassuring moments of humanity that see people looking out for one another and giving us all a spark of hope and joy, the song really captures the zeitgeist of the bizarre times we find ourselves in. At a time when we’re forced to keep our distance, the well spoken lyricism and warm vocals found here are just the comforting embrace we all need and long for.
Top Tracks: Secret Cameras – The Silence
Most songs are works of art that you take in all at once like gazing at a painting. Sometimes however there is great joy to be found in songs that bide their time, that don’t play their hand too soon and let you stand witness as they build up over time. What we have on offer with tracks like ‘The Silence’ is more akin to seeing a painting brought to life one brush stroke at a time or having the final few pieces of a collage fall into place to reveal the bigger picture. Songs like this latest release from London quartet Secret Cameras just get better and better with each listen as you delve deeper into the myriad of little details and nuances. Opening with swirling cyberpunk electronica reminiscent of latter day Muse, you already have an inkling that the band have something inventive and eclectic in store for you right from the very start. As the song develops we are also graced with rich vocals, propulsive drums, a glorious post punk bass line that you can feel rumbling deep in your gut, and guitars wailing like some feral creature straining against chains that can barely contain it.
Top Tracks: Drew Angus – Mr. Gemini
This track makes me want to believe in astrology… now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d begin a review with, but bear with me! To be more specific, as a Gemini child myself I wish I was half the man depicted in this rollicking rocker from slick singer-songwriter Drew Angus. ‘Mr. Gemini’ takes all the long held stereotypes about those born under the sign – namely being outgoing and impulsive, wild and unpredictable, as fickle and as forceful as the weather – and dials them up to 11. We’re left with a vivid picture of a freewheeling whirlwind of a man, barrelling down the highway in search of the next big adventure. That same zeal burns brightly in every aspect of this old school rock’n’roller. As well as name-dropping The Boss it has all the same heart as an uptempo E Street offering, the soaring guitar work reminds me a little of The Only Ones’ ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’, the superb vocals strike the perfect balance between polished and free-spirited, and its unrelenting upbeat energy is damn near irresistible. I’m no oracle, but all the horoscopes are telling me that this is an early contender for being one of the best songs of 2020.
Top Tracks: Megan Dixon Hood – Cloudwalker
The world would be a very different place without dreamers, yet they remain forever misunderstood. We all too often see daydreaming and having your head in the clouds depicted as some kind of character flaw rather than as a kind of inner strength and creativity to be admired. With ‘Cloudwalker’ Belwood favourite Megan Dixon Hood shines a light on the real power that dreamers possess. How they can break the Earthly bonds that hold them back and escape into a world of imagination. One where the expectations of others become meaningless and you can be whoever you want to be, a place with no rules or limits, and experience a sense of freedom unlike any other. In seeing the world through that lens people can weather the fiercest storms, see all the forgotten beauty and wonder in the everyday, and think outside the box and look at problems from a new angle. With Megan’s entrancing vocals, some melodic nods to Kate Bush, and an uplifting whirlwind of boundless electropop energy – this one goes out to the dreamers. Here’s a song to make you feel like cartwheeling over endless jungle canopies or dancing across oceans on the crest of a wave.
Top Tracks: Aidan Martin – Hurting You
Sometimes a song takes a while to really grow on you. Perhaps you need to be in the right mood to hear it for the lyrics to really connect with you, or maybe the melodies take time to worm their way into your heart. Sometimes I end up listening to a song on repeat for hours on end before writing about it until every rise and fall feels homely and familiar. Conversely some songs grab you right from the first listen, and even just the first few seconds can be enough to make you stop what you’re doing, sit up, and pay attention. ‘Hurting You’ falls into the latter category. With just a handful of sparse yet striking piano notes and a couple of lines of arresting vocals akin to a mix of Sam Smith and Rag’N’Bone Man, this latest track from Aidan Martin soon grabs ahold of you. Its grasp only gets tighter as the song builds and blooms, so that by the time you reach its grand choral climax it has already earned a place in your heart, as well as your playlist. It may not be a song that needs several listens, but you’ll find yourself hitting repeat all the same.
Top Tracks: Jonny Carroll – Duffle Bag
What with many of us suddenly finding ourselves with a lot more free time on our hands, now seems like as good a time as ever for a bit of self reflection. A chance to slow down, look inward, and think on who we really are. What led us to this point, how our past has defined who we are now, and what we can do to change the path we find ourselves on. The first step to resolving a problem is to recognise that it is there, and ‘Duffle Bag’ is the story of Jonny Carroll taking that leap. It seems like an age has passed since we first featured Jonny’s music. A lot has changed since then, but his melodies remain every bit as sweet as birdsong and his sublime lyricism is still full of heart. In his most mature and thoughtful work yet, this atmospheric new single takes an objective look at his own destructive coping mechanisms. Breaking down all the bottled-up pain that formed them in the first place and acknowledging the hurt they’ve caused others in the years that followed. I don’t know many people who are mature enough to tackle such self-improvement, and even fewer who are brave enough to share that battle with the world, and talented enough to turn such a struggle into a song so beautiful.
Top Tracks: Zaac Pick – Lighter Side Of Blue
It almost feels silly to be writing about music at a time like this. It seems pretty trivial in the face of all the fear and uncertainty that has gripped the world. I imagine all the artists creating music at the moment feel much the same way, that their work seems frivolous and inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It’s in times like this however that we need art most of all as a light to lead us through our dark days. Much like other art forms music provides an escape, but more than any other it also has an uncanny power to provide comfort. To remind us that we’re not alone in our struggles, and that there’s something better waiting on the other side. ‘Lighter Side Of Blue’, the latest track from Canadian singer/songwriter Zaac Pick, is a timely reminder of the solace that music brings us when we’re at our lowest. With a haunting folk arrangement, soothing vocals and a strangely prescient video that see Zaac drifting through serene empty streets, this track is the perfect companion to keep by your side and help guide you through the darkness.
Top Tracks: Ren Lawton – The World and Me
It’s hard not to fall for a free spirit. The kind of people that live out an existence that you could only dream of. The wanderers who spend their lives drawn to beauty and adventure, and in turn radiate that exact same allure to enrapture everyone they meet. Those people that seem to shirk off all the trappings of modern life, all the societal chains that drag the rest of us down, who we end up clinging to in the hope that they take us with them on their unfettered flight. Often the reason we fall for them is the same reason why we have to let them go. Though we may dream of it, most of us aren’t made for that life, but we’d rather lose a free spirit we love than to see such a rare bird caged. ‘The World and Me’ describes just such a love, however it takes the path less travelled. The one that leads to spreading your wings and taking flight with them rather than losing them. This latest track from Belwood favourite Ren Lawton is one of his most accomplished yet, with its heartwarming melodies, uplifting strings and a comforting caress of harmonica. It’s the kind of track that makes the world feel a brighter place. That despite how we may feel right now there is a fresh adventure waiting over the horizon.
Top Tracks: The Dustbowl Daddies – Shoulda Let You Down
It’s easy to think of folk music as something soft, sparse and gentle and forget just how spirited it can be. How it can ignite a fire in your veins, make you cast all inhibitions aside and make you want to dance and twirl about the room until you’re out of breath. Take ‘Shoulda Let You Down’ for instance; it’s anything but soft and gentle, it’s a rollicking, foot-stomping tour de force. This infectious new number from Canadian folk ensemble The Dustbowl Daddies has something magical about it. Press play, break the seal on this potent little potion, and you’ll find you have the perfect recipe for an instant party. Celebrating a much needed escape from a unhappy relationship that had been dragging you down for far too long, this track has such boundless energy. The frantic mile-a-minute strumming and chaotic sing-along chorus just makes you feel like you can take on the world. It’s a song for feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin after a winter that seemed to last a lifetime and reveling in the thought of brighter days to come.
Belwood Music 