a music blog
Girlpool have always sung each song together, generating strength through their combined voices. Powerplant adds drums and grungier guitars to their lo-fi songs, successfully growing their sound and vision. Continue reading “Album Review: Girlpool – Powerplant”
The Ivor Novello awards, given for song writing, are to take place in London this week. They are strange awards in many ways – sometimes rewarding just for commercial success and other times recognising artists beyond the mainstream.
What makes this year’s nominations list stand out for the right reasons is the inclusion of Laura Mvula, who was recently dropped by her record label. Now you would think if they signed you for a five album deal then they at least believe in your talent and potential. But in this case they dropped her after her second album failed to reach their sales targets. And they did this by email. Continue reading “Why A Win for Laura Mvula Would Be A Win for All Women in Music”
To be quiet in this world of endless noise is sometimes a deliberate choice. Shyness isn’t always about hiding away or being afraid of life, it’s just a different way to survive. Joan Shelley has always been interested in understatement and on this eponymous record she shows there is power in musical introspection. Continue reading “Album Review: Joan Shelley”
Liz Rose, a successful Nashville-based songwriter, only started writing in her late thirties and never planned on becoming a singer. Her debut album, Swimming Alone, is a collection of endearing songs which proves that it’s never too late to find your own voice. Continue reading “Album Review: Liz Rose – Swimming Alone”
Canadian singer Tanika Charles might have started out wanting to be an actress/comedian but thankfully she ended up finding her voice by singing back up vocals and has now evolved into an artist in her own right. Her music is sometimes billed as ‘classic soul’ but she admits some of the songs on her debut Soul Run started with hip hop style beats before being recreated with more traditional instrumentation. This blend of modern and vintage styles really makes this colourful album fly. Continue reading “Album Review: Tanika Charles – Soul Run”
The Americana music awards are a fantastic showcase for quality music, sweeping up all the great acts that country music award shows have left behind as well as giving the respect due to classic artists. Of course the definition of ‘Americana’ may never be fully concrete but if you glance back across the history of these awards you can see that they honour a great variety of musicians. Continue reading “Why the Americana Music Awards Needs Female Only Categories”
Five minutes spent watching any TV ‘talent’ show should be enough to convince you that singing other people’s songs well is a unique art. To truly cover a song you need to own it completely for yourself. You need to sing this is my song and actually mean it. So Brandi Carlile was brave to ask fourteen artists to cover songs from her album The Story. Thankfully the rich and diverse interpretations of her work on this charity album Cover Stories are more than worthy of comparison with the originals. Continue reading “Album Review: Cover Stories”
If you’re familiar with Irish singer Imelda May then you might think her new look and sound are a little dramatic. But on Life. Love. Flesh. Blood she strips back the artifice of her rockabilly style and sound to create some brilliantly different disguises. Continue reading “Album Review: Imelda May – Life. Love. Flesh. Blood”
Sounding like the love child of Hank Williams and Lana Del Rey, Golden Eagle from Holly Macve is a distinctive debut from a promising young talent. Continue reading “Album Review: Holly Macve – Golden Eagle”
Highway Queens 