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Songwriter Blog

Dom the Composer is Sleepwalking with Streetlights in his honeyed and hymnal soul single

Posted on 13 October 2023

Since releasing his debut single in 2019, Dom the Composer has summoned his signature sound through rhythmic reverence, a never-ending proclivity towards blues and the determination to lavish even his most pensive singles with soul.

His latest single, Sleepwalking with Streetlights, created in collaboration with Novian Wright proves his time with the All Saints Choir of Men and Boys in Ashmont didn’t go to waste. His hymnal and honeyed vocal register instantly arrests the soul as the bluesy melodies work their magic on your rhythmic pulses before Novian Wright brings a sense of dynamism with his rap bars that effortlessly complement the MA-hailing Haitian-American singer-songwriter’s intoxicating timbre.

Sleepwalking with Streetlights is perfect for those late nights when your demons drive you to the point of distraction, retrospective regret wracks you with the compulsion for action and there is no appeasing your restlessly listless mind. It is a sublime testament to an artist who is clear in his determination to let trends pass him by and stay on his own euphonically enlightened path of delivering uninhibited vulnerability and originality.

Sleepwalking with Streetlights was officially released on September 28; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jessamine Barham exhumed a ‘Shallow Grave’ to speak on the violent oppression of women in her latest single.

Posted on 12 October 2023

Jessamine Barham released her most striking single to date when she read the harrowing tale in her latest single, Shallow Grave. The haunting vocal harmonies atop the staccato acoustic guitar strings and as the centrefold within the quiescent orchestral swells of chamber pop strings brought the solemnity within Shallow Grave to spectral life in a way that assures us that even though Jessamine Barham’s dark pop stylings are niche, her talents of a sonic narrator of feminine tragedy should never be underestimated.

The days of the Salem witch trials and being sectioned with hysteria may be behind us, but the violent oppression of women will always be a tale as old as time. It was no feat of hyperbole to lyrically infer that feminine acts of rebellion can incur the death penalty. Some may say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but life hath no tyranny like the men determined to keep us chastised.

Shallow Grave was officially released on September 24; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pomaa – Wide Eyed: Painfully Sober, Sonically Celestial Indie Dream Pop

Posted on 11 October 2023

With a transfixingly astral vocal register layering harmonies over the retro reverb-swathed synths, Pomaa’s latest single, Wide Eyed, bridges the gap between Siouxsie and the Banshees and cutting-edge outfits in the vein of Wolf Alice and Desperate Journalist while allowing you to linger in a kaleidoscope of dreamy psych-pop tones.

From the first immersion, the artist’s unique talents in blending the spirit of her own hypnotically authentic expression with the mixer of era-spanning signatures from shoegaze, post-punk, psych, pop and indie to pour the perfect sonic mocktail becomes immediately apparent.

Through Wide Eyed, Pomaa narrates the isolation of being the only sober person at a party; starved of connection and wracked with unshakable sensations which embed the loneliness of growing at a different pace to everyone around you.

Wide Eyed will be available to stream on all major platforms from October 11; stream it on Spotify & SoundCloud. If you like what you hear, stay tuned for the release of her debut EP, Bridge to Somewhere, which will drop on November 15.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rick Shaffer gave psych the blues in his latest garage rock hit, Bogalusa

Posted on 10 October 2023

Rick Shaffer gave psych the blues in his latest LP, Sleeping Dog, featuring the standout single, Bogalusa, which allows garage rock and 60s RnB to converge to create drippings of nostalgia; fans of The Stooges will want to savour every distorted with vintage glamour drop.

12 solo albums into his illustrious career, and it is clear to see that the guitarist and songwriter is far from fresh out of ideas. The Teenage Kicks-reminiscent raucous power pop panache lends itself effortlessly well to the grooves and hooks which make Bogalusa such a scintillatingly electric ride through the golden eras of music.

Wild and hypnotic in equal measure, the guitar hook and riff-rife euphonic escapade is as close as you can get to sonic pornography.

Bogalusa was officially released on September 23; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dora Gola – The Last Tear (Ostatnia Lza): Electronic Folklore Has a New Eloquent Author

Posted on 10 October 2023

For her latest single, The Last Tear (Ostatnia Lza), the electronic folk artist Dora Gola tapped into the divinity of her femininity to create an innately spiritual Clannad-esque score of pure beguile.

With her ethereal vocal timbre scintillating the orchestration of awakening Eastern beats and the reverb-swathed synth lines which give the release an ambiently explorative energy, the Polish Ireland-residing singer-songwriter and dancer reached the pinnacle of transcendent folktronica soul.

After her debut single, Dark Sand, saw her revered by Hot Press and The Irish Times Magazine as one of the most exciting acts to emerge from Ireland in recent years, expectations on the rhythmic seamstress were set high; with each new release, she’s surpassed all expectations.

Stream the official music video for The Last Tear by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sadness plays the blues in the latest folk composition by Italian virtuoso, Stefano Manotti

Posted on 10 October 2023

A cosmically arcane air breezes right through the latest folk single from the Italian singer, songwriter, composer and guitarist Stefano Manotti. He may be only a few years on from the release of his Soulgem Records-distributed debut single, but he is already making major waves in the industry by climbing the charts and supporting internationally acclaimed artists.

The amorous melancholy that lingers in his vocal lines as they drift above the folky instrumental arrangement in Endless Road, which paints a panoramic picture of estrangement and wantonness for connection, invites you into an intimately electrifying and orchestrally ornate world. Sonically visualising the middle ground between Bowie & Tom Waits while orchestrating an exemplary manifestation of Italian folk, Manotti’s sound couldn’t be more refined in this odyssey of folk blues.

Endless Road is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The indomitable indie rock powerhouse, Sam Scherdel, rose-tinted bitter-sweet euphoria in his latest single, R.E.T.R.O.

Posted on 9 October 2023

 After a phenomenally successful year which has seen Sam Scherdel secure support slots for Two Door Cinema Club and receive critical acclaim from across the board, Sheffield’s indie rock spearhead has delivered another hit of exhilarant romanticism with his latest single, R.E.T.R.O. If the waves Scherdel makes with his ear for euphoric earworms get any bigger, we’ll all need to seek higher ground.

The retrospective take on gratitude is a stunning attestation to our proclivity towards tenderly holding the past while struggling to amass sentimentality for the present. The sepia hues of nostalgia will always bring rose-tinted light in our darkest hours, but as much as we want to re-manifest the past, as Scherdel did so sonically consummately with the shimmering new wave pop nuances atop his signature Springsteen-esque indie rock grooves, us mere mortals are confined to the present.

“R.E.T.R.O. was written in 2021 after the initial lockdowns. It’s a bittersweet pop record which contains the message to appreciate what you have whilst you have it, as the moment it’s gone is the moment it hurts.”

With producer Gavin Monaghan (Editors, Robert Plant, Paolo Nutini), the singer-songwriter who always knows exactly which melodically electrifying buttons to press to evoke deep emotion, demonstrated his versatility without watering down the authentic alchemy barely contained in his previous releases.

R.E.T.R.O. turned back the airwaves on October 6; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Loulita Gill shared a message of resilience and hope in her classic pop score, Silenced

Posted on 8 October 2023

The singer-songwriter Loulita Gill oozed classic pop class with her recently released single, Silenced, which goes back to the darkest and most vulnerable chapter of her life to offer consolation and solidarity to survivors of abuse.

Few people will ever know the strength needed to keep your head high after you have been subjected to abuse by the people who brought you into the world to cherish and protect you. After the unveiling of this arcanely orchestral score, a deeper sense of empathy will be ingrained in anyone who has never had the crushing experience of vulnerability being exploited first-hand.

Her celestial vocal range, which effortlessly coalesces with the minor piano keys and swells of the classical strings, opens a doorway to compassion. We certainly weren’t coloured surprised when learning the Bristol-based singer’s career has been decorated by accolades. Her music regularly features on global Christian radio stations, GODTV and BBC Radio Bristol.

Watch the official music video for Silenced, which premiered on September 22nd on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mosa melodically sculpted the twilight in his latest electronic score, The Night Sets In

Posted on 7 October 2023
Mosa

Lose yourself in the dusky twilight of the latest electronic folk serenade by the Oxford-based sound designer Mosa. His scintillating single, The Night Sets In, is a plaintively compelling composition that could be easily compared to the artfulness of Radiohead, Mogwai, and Low; although those comparisons can allude to the diaphanously sonorous atmosphere of his sound, they don’t do Mosa’s intrinsic authenticity much justice.

His unique ability to infuse the dusty soul of blues into his sound design around the neo-classic keys and ethereal motifs establishes him as one of the most authentic artists around in 2023. We were hooked after hearing his single, Helicopter, earlier this year, after hearing The Night Sets In, which could easily rival the beguiling gravitas of any of the releases on the Westworld soundtrack, we are even more assured that Mosa is one to watch.

The Night Sets In will be officially released on October 7th. Hear it on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sinéad Ann has released her spiritually spectral alt-indie-folk single, Four Walls

Posted on 6 October 2023

If any Irish folk artist has what it takes to surpass the fame of Glen Hansard in 2023, it is Sinéad Ann with her spectrally spiritual single, Four Walls, which haunts the middle ground between indie rock and alt-folk.

With vocals that command in the same celestially raw vein as Dolores O’Riordan and chamber strings aiding the depiction of the clash between our mortality and spirit, Four Walls makes no apology as it visualises the maleficence of our shadow selves.

Rather than painting the picture of incandescent innocence, Sinéad Ann elevated the murder-folk subgenre with her confession of nightmarish visions before taking her listeners to a place of enlightenment following the vanquishment of her demons. You couldn’t ask for a more scintillating narration of the triumph of good over evil. It definitively proves that nothing concerning the soul is ever black and white, crimson always has a part to play; it runs in our veins and has a role to play in redemption, whether that plays out in our shadow minds or in reality.

With more music in the baroque pipelines, any folk fans partial to expositions of the darker sides of the human condition will want to be part of the breakthrough artist’s ascent.

Stream Four Walls on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast