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Blog Showcasing Singer Songwriter Talent

Spotlight Feature: Unveiled Desires: Kaye Fox and the Candid Rhythms of ‘WWYD’

Posted on 20 November 2024

Kaye Fox, long recognised as the clandestine force behind chart-topping hits for icons like J. Cole and Kanye West, finally commands the spotlight with her single, ‘WWYD’

Fox transformed the R&B scene by turning personal revelation into an art form. By questioning, “What would you do if you knew I was wide open?”, she stripped the facades commonly held in the theatres of affection, where desire can distort through candour when you refuse to keep your cards close to your chest.

The soul-stirring anxious rumination unfurls against a backdrop of 90s R&B nostalgia and contemporary soul as Fox’s vocals allow her lyrics to flourish with vulnerability and strength, merging the haunting magnetism of Lauryn Hill and the emotional gravity of Mary J. Blige. The smooth, underlying beat complements her intricate vocal phrasing, drawing listeners deeper into the narrative.

This single holds a mirror to the disarray of today’s dating culture while acting as a kaleidoscope of her own talent in connecting with listeners with intimate universal truth.

After WWYD, it’s clear that no RnB radar will be complete without Fox’s name. Stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Heidi Vincent – Criminal: A Ruggedly Western Vignette of Vengeance

Posted on 17 November 2024

Vancouver’s Heidi Vincent fuelled her latest single, Criminal, with Femme Fatale fire-branded soul. Within the pistols at dawn ruggedly Western vignette of vengeance, the country-pop-rock siren reclaims her power after a sour romantic encounter while giving April March a run for her twangy rockabilly money.

As the ultimate soundtrack for the recently lothario-scorned, Criminal delivers enough vindication to devour your spite whole as you lose yourself within the stylised earworm which is a thematic continuation from her previous denial and betrayal-encompassing single, What Love Can Do.

While cinema may fail to write female redemption stories which don’t resonate as exploitative, that’s exactly where the independent singer-songwriter succeeded with Criminal, there’s catharsis by the smorgasbord in the invitation for every listener to find their power through the narratively electrifying sonic blockbuster.

Criminal hit all major platforms on November 1st; stream it on Spotify and connect with Heidi Vincent on Instagram and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Chris J Hudson – What Do You Wanna Do ft MoskoStar1: A Game of Hearts and RnB Harmony

Posted on 13 November 2024

In What Do You Wanna Do, the two legends in their own right Chris J Hudson and MoskoStar1 create a velvet-touched sonic seduction that resonates with lyrical vulnerability and soulful bravado.

Born from Chris J Hudson’s creative evolution—from Phoenix indie band frontman in Thunderbird to an LA-based solo visionary—the track is a testament to his commitment to making music that embodies heart and soul. His influences, spanning from Prince’s experimental genius to the groove of Timbaland and the emotive depth of Joni Mitchell, are distilled into this bilingual RnB gem that bridges borders and musical backgrounds.

The single pulses with smoky Latin guitar tones and jazzy sax lines, underscored by melodious keys, that bring a nostalgic warmth straight from the 80s and 90s RnB playbook. It’s a quintessentially smooth yet fiery RnB-Soul fusion, reflecting Hudson’s belief that music should mirror what’s in the soul, not just provide easy pleasure. The track’s groove feels like a game of chess in the arena of love, where the object of desire holds all the proverbial cards, leaving the protagonist grappling with the pain of ambiguous longing.

Hudson’s artistry, defined by a mission to spread love and mindfulness, is undeniably at the heart of this sultry release. It’s an aural aphrodisiac designed to sweep listeners off their feet—while slyly reminding us that love often leaves us at its mercy.

What Do You Wanna Do is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Joshua Wales – Don’t Worry: Sublimely Seraphic Indie Folk

Posted on 13 November 2024

If The National veered into acoustic indie folk territory and took a few leaves from Cigarettes After Sex’s intimately expansive book, the result would echo the same affectingly tender alchemy which drifts through Joshua Wales’ latest single, Don’t Worry.

The indie folk singer-songwriter’s sombrely honeyed, low-timbered vocal register subdues you into the melodious sentimentality of the acoustic guitar-driven single, which sees quiescent swells of orchestral strings brush past the plaintively warm guitar notes.

With “Don’t worry, we’ve got all the time in the world” reprising throughout the sublimely seraphic release, listeners are reminded that pace is the trick as Joshua Wales issues a reminder to his frenetically minded younger self.

The reflectively sonorous score features in Joshua Wales’ discography as a standalone entity and as the opening title single to his debut EP which you will need little convincing to devour in full after bearing witness to the introspective magnetism in the opening salvo.

Stream Joshua Wales’ latest single, Don’t Worry, on all major platforms, including Spotify, now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tim Briggs – The Long Fall from Grace: A Folk-Rock Sanctuary for the Soul

Posted on 12 November 2024

After decades of carving out soul-stirring melodies across various genres and scenes, Tim Briggs converged all his experience into his latest triumph, The Long Fall from Grace LP.

The title single exhibits the raconteur’s evolution from an eager singer-songwriter in 70s Ohio to a revered figure on the folk rock and southern rock circuits. After years of touring the states and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Marshall Tucker Band, a southern rock grit was naturally embedded into his folk-rooted melodies as Briggs sharpened the emotive potency of his vocal harmonies and guitar licks.

The single ‘The Long Fall From Grace’ encapsulates Tim’s adeptness in suckering your soul into submission.  With every steady, sticky-sweet clash of the strings, you’re increasingly convinced your emotions are safe in the deft hands of the artist whose consolingly pure vocal lines enable him to become a confidant, someone to trust with your most visceral emotions.

While nostalgia may run deep in its veins, ‘The Long Fall From Grace’ stands leagues away from being a mere artifice of antiquity. With the natural breeze of 70s folk, the intimacy of college radio rock and the commercial appeal of Nada Surf, It is a modern classic, a testament to Tim Briggs’ enduring impact and artistic integrity.

Tim Briggs’ The Long Fall from Grace LP reached all major streaming platforms on October 27; stream it in full via Apple Music and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Laura Mock took her listeners from poetic depth to ethereal heights in her standout single, Acadia

Posted on 11 November 2024

After two years of pouring her poetry, candour and sublimely affecting unique aura into her debut EP, home//body, the NYC-residing songstress, Laura Mock has finally unveiled one of the most sensuous sounds of 2024.

The standout single, Acadia, starts with tenderly warm piano chords which echo Nick Cave’s ‘Into My Arms’ before the single veers into stylistically seraphic easy listening territory and concludes following an arcane neo-classic folk pop crescendo which reaches the epitome of sonic serenity.

Despite the diaphanous propensities of each of the motifs in Acadia, the artfully composed, orchestrally laced progressions are strong enough to carry the weight of the heaviest souls as Mock uses the organic reverie within her vocal register to wrap you up within a vignette where naturalistic beauty resounds in equal measure to the divine nature of her talent.

Stream Laura Mock’s debut EP, home//body, on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Organic Art Folk Serenity Unravels through Matt John Henderson’s ‘Gethsemane’

Posted on 9 November 2024

With his latest single, Gethsemane, the Ambient Avant-Gardist Matt John Henderson nestled into the niche of sonic expressionists with the ability to render catharsis into your rhythmic pulses while intellectually stimulating your mind.

The cinematically quiescent piece uses organic textures and tones to imbue the production in folksy seraphic warmth; his equally as honeyed and honed hushed vocal tones effortlessly complement the minimalist yet intricately eloquent instrumental stylings which pair jazz nuances with artfully delicate motifs that wouldn’t be out of place in Thom Yorke’s remit.

As a precursor to the critically acclaimed artist’s eagerly anticipated album, Lapse in Stillness, Gethsemane is an introspectively entrancing teaser of the serenity which is set to soon follow. The artist’s ability to invite his audience to lose themselves and live between the layers of his sound is second to none; it’s only a matter of time before his name becomes a staple on every editorial ambient playlist on Spotify.

Gethsemane was officially released on November 1st; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hotel Florentia squeezed 60s psych-pop into garage rock with their saturated-in-delay slice of eccentric reverie, The 11th Hour

Posted on 7 November 2024

The Italian pop-rock duo Hotel Florentia squeezed the psychedelia of 60s pop into their criminally underrated lo-fi garage gem, The 11th Hour, allowing listeners to revel in a slice of indie reverie that matches the sublimity of The Maccabees and the Violent Femmes.

With melodies that burrow their way straight into the soul and turn up the heat through the glow of wavy saturation and nostalgically sharpened hooks which imbue instantaneous accessibility and familiarity to the single, The 11th Hour is the ultimate introduction to the Lodi-based outfit which are no strangers to international stages.

Equally as sweet as the instrumentals is the sense of playfully unfeigned eccentricity which sees the single become so much more than the sum of its parts. If Pavement never fails to leave you enamoured with their zanily electric vignettes, prepare to fall head over rhythmic pulses for The 11th Hour.

The 11th Hour is available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Folk Meets Symphony: The Dynamic Contrasts of ‘Touch of Adrenaline

Posted on 7 November 2024

With an 00s-adjacent sound that will throw you right back to when the fervour around Plain White T’s single Hey There Delilah consumed popular culture, the latest acoustic pop single, Touch of Adrenaline, from the independent singer-songwriter Woodstone, is a raw revelation which will leave you hanging off every cuttingly cultivated chord progression.

Rugged in all the right places, stirringly diaphanous in all the rest, Touch of Adrenaline is enough to sink you into an awe-struck stupor as you attempt to take in the vivacious display of talent that translates into evocatively piercing aural gold.

The pulls of the orchestral strings which work their way into the mix accompanied by folky instrumentals amplify the thematic dynamism of the single which evolves into a study of contrasts between the ornate orchestral motifs and the winding Kurt Vile reminiscent folk strings.

As the single lyrically contends with the painstaking fear of not being enough in the presence of someone who captivates through the electricity of their skin and knowing that the connection will be ephemeral, Woodstone exhibits one of the most scintillating song structures the airwaves have been graced with this year. The question isn’t whether he is worthy of your radar; it’s, Are your radars worthy of him?

Touch of Adrenaline reached all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud on October 21.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

faSade – Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free): A Dark Cabaret Plea For An End to The Right to Bear Arms

Posted on 6 November 2024

In the Avant Garde production of faSade’s dark cabaret rock single, Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free), the artist plunges deep into the heart of one of America’s most polarising debates. The jazz-imbued track, saturated with theatrical verve, doesn’t shy from voicing the harrowing price paid by innocence in the face of the nation’s gun culture.

With each lyric, faSade delivers visceral blows, but none as sharp as the one imparted through the strikingly sombre line, “Your freedom to carry is not free when I have to carry my child to the cemetery”.

The fierce outcry against the so-called freedom of gun ownership accounts for the loss of the cost of children’s lives while delivering an anthem mourning those lost to the bullets of mentally ill assailants and a rebuke of society’s complacency.

With America on the brink of electing a new leader, the timing of the track couldn’t be more poignant. faSade holds a mirror to the grim realities of a society that chooses the profits of the gun industry over the safety of its youth as the artist condemns the political powers that perpetuate this cycle of violence for electoral gains, and the societal indifference that allows domestic abusers and despondent individuals access to firearms.

Through Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free), faSade implores listeners to awaken from their idle states as mere legislative changes could preserve countless futures.

The official video for Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free) premiered on October 18th; stream the video on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast