Words In The Earth

It wasn't long ago that I have the pleasure of  reviewing  Indie Soull's album The Book Of Angels, and the prolific singer-songwriter is continuing his quick output with a new record called The Straw. There's a stripped bare acoustic version of the record already available, but ahead of the full album's release I've been privy to the full production version of the track The Straw 1. Following from the same creative flow as his previous records, The Straw 1 is a short, sweet and perfectly formed piece of acoustic song-writing that brilliantly captures everything that makes Indie Soull such a great artist. I talked previously about how Indie Soull combines his influences together so comfortably, retaining a lot of his own personality in his song-writing. The Straw 1 definitely continues in this vein, but with an increasingly deft touch that brings to mind Simon & Garfunkel's mastery of the acoustic song. There's a purity to the melancholy of The Straw 1 th...

The Albany, New York based collective Daybloom have been together on and off for more than a decade. After a few stops and starts, and several years of putting it together, their self-titled debut album has finally come to fruition. Those years it has spent in development have clearly not hampered its quality or consistency though. Much like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and First Aid Kit, the band beautifully combine the darker elements of folk, americana and alt-rock with a particularly outward looking mentality. There is a surprising amount of cohesion for an album recorded over three years, and it allows the record to become instantly recognisable and totally absorbing. Interestingly some members of Daybloom have experience not just in other comparable folk acts, but also in the heavy music sphere playing the type of melodic death metal which, on the surface, bares little similarity to Daybloom's sound. However, when looking at some of the more progressive bands of this genre such as K...

The Californian musician Argel Cota has been a highly established and sought after session drummer for the last two decades, but as a solo artist under the name Arhkota he is now starting to build a new strand to his career. His second album Dreamy Hamilton is further establishing his sound and style, and with the help of singer Lubna Maher, a former collaborator of  Tricky, he has produced a glistening, dreamy album that crosses boundaries between trip hop, indie, electro, dream pop, chillwave and ambient music. Unsurprisingly, with the drumkit being his primary instrument, when there are drums here they do standout in the mix, thought it's far less prominent that you might expect. The focus of the album is ,more on the textures and soundscapes and there is as much time spent without a beat as there is with one. It's perhaps akin to how Charlie Mingus's bass playing always stood out in his band compositions, with a subtle prominence rather than an indulgent eminence, thoug...

It's February, which means for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere it's cold, wet, windy, and mildly depressing. Couple this with the fact that we're in still in the grips of a global pandemic, and it's not the most cheery of times. Last summer was a restricted one, and the usual joys of holiday sun, summer parties and late night fun were mostly replaced with social distancing, lockdowns and zoom calls. This winter, the memories of the glorious summer are from a year and a half ago. Now though, thanks to the hard work of so many, we can start to look forward to what will hopefully be a better summer. It's also a great time to get some new summer tunes ready, and Stay Together, the latest single by the up-and-coming Lawson J, is a perfect pick for the playlist. Lawson J is a singer-songwriter and producer who for the last few years has been forging a style that combines classic soul influences such as Tracey Chapman and Marvin Gaye, contemporary sounds from the lik...

The prolific Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist Mirko Pirozzi is not someone who does things in a traditional way. His discography so far sees him combine a slew of wild instrumentation with a jazz and prog-rock inspired compositional style, along with elements from psychedelia and world music. His complex and multi-layered style allows his tracks to exude soul and spirit, and none more so than on Carnivorous Curtains, the final track from his 2020 album Ghost Park. Carnivorous Curtains is a sprawling seven minute epic that closed out Ghost Park magnificently. This track is quite a trip, and instrumentally utilises a plethora of different sounds from dulcimers, 12-string guitars and vintage synthesisers to classical and jazz instruments too. As an introduction to Mirko Pirozzi's music though it's perfect, as the track explores a multitude of styles, all of which Mirko Pirozzi blends together in a way that can be both beautifully harmonious and deliberately discordant. T...

Although the emergence of trap as the dominant movement in hip-hop has seen a huge wave of creativity and innovation, it has also allowed a lot of stagnation and regression too. Part of that comes from the lack of sonic diversity, and part of it comes from the similarity in subject matter. So it's hugely refreshing to hear an artist like James Roan who has produced an excellent new video to go with his track I Just Don't Know, taken from the album Enter • End. James Roan not only gives us a smooth, catchy, jazz influenced production, but also provides an introspective lyricism and fragile delivery that acts as a rewarding counterbalance to the shallow bragging that has become the default in modern trap. The video is an intriguing and stylish piece of work that produces a different narrative around the lyrics, and it's minimalist approach offers an unexpected new depth to the theme. I Just Don't Know is based around a funky and soulful production courtesy of the up-and-c...

I'm usually of the mind that modern acoustic singer-songwriters, if I can categorise these artists together like this, often produce their best work in their early albums. It's usually before the allure of unnecessarily expensive production and overbearing instrumental options sets in, and the raw focus on song-writing and subject matter is the primary core. The UK/US singer-songwriter Mutch Katsonga is someone who has avoided that trap, maintaining a minimalist and impactful brand of folk and country infused acoustic music across a number of recent albums under his Indie Soull guise. His latest record, The Book Of Angels, is as strong as anything he has released thus far, utilising less Americana influence in favour of subtle indie and gospel flavoured sounds. It's applaudable how well Indie Soull uses simple instrumentation to such brilliant effect. The track-listing consists of spacious acoustic guitar lead numbers and piano-lead ballads, with the few additional elements...