Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.
𝙒𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙋𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣) – 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙨 𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖́𝙣𝙙
Charles is ‘appy with his choice…
Mobile telephones. We all have one. I mean we ALL have one. It doesn’t matter if you’re 14 or 82. Rich or poor. You most definitely have one. You may not use it much; it may never leave your hands. But you have one. It might be over a decade old; it might be the very latest model. But still, you have one. Do you charge it 3 times a day or once every 3 days? Whatever your charging regime, you have a mobile phone. Do you strictly use yours for calls and texts? Just like the days before phones got smart? Those simpler, dumber days? Are you thumbing away on work emails? Are you still adamant that Temple Run is the coolest game known to man? Perhaps you’re addicted to Googling random facts? Do you find your life being sucked down the drain by social media feeds? Is your scrolling thumb feeling positively arthritic? Or how about music? Do you crave the latest hits by the biggest stars? Are you still searching for “the new sound”? What about the mighty array of camera lenses residing grumpily on the back of the electronic slab? For those with an older machine, let me tell you that modern phones have more than one lens on the back – I know; crazy. So yeah, are you obsessed with taking snaps yet despising people who call them “snaps” (because they’re “works of art”)? Are you the type to take one photo, pause for mild contentment, then put the phone back in the pocket? Or are you the type to take a whole series of photos, then plop them into an album labelled “To Be Edited”…? Do you then open your Photography Folder to browse the plethora of photo and video editing apps? Do you stare into the abyss that is YouTube? Maybe you’re simply addicted to “window shopping”, but never actually buy anything? In other words, living in a dream world… All this barely scrapes the surface of modern mobile phones’ capabilities.
I use MANY apps, frequently. Aside from my music production, I do almost everything on my tiny little 5-year-old phone. The battery is pretty rubbish, but everything else is more than fine. Even these very articles are usually part written on this little thing. It’s just handy. It’s always there. I can’t take my Mac around the flat. I certainly can’t take it outside. And so it has become a part of me. An extension of my being. I began to wonder what apps I use most. Or more specifically, apps I use frequently that aren’t perhaps what everyone else is using. After a brief whir of my brain as I mentally scoured the apps, one particular one sprang to mind. It’s music related… No, I’m not talking about Spotify. I hate Spotify. But I don’t mean my beloved Apple Music either (I use it habitually). I am talking about a memory of sorts. You know those people who own a huge, expensive camera yet take most photos on their phone instead, because it’s always with them and it’s quick and easy? Well imagine I suddenly come up with an idea. A musical idea. Do I open Logic on my Mac, set up the microphone, mic stand, cables, interface, set up the track and hit record? No. I reach for my phone, and simply hit record. It’s terrible quality and in mono. Does that matter? Not in the slightest! It is simply because I need it to be FAST. An idea can disappear as quickly as it appeared. And what if I’m out and about? The phone is all I’ve got! It’s kind of perfect. So, yes; I’m talking about “Voice Memos”. THAT, is one of my most used apps. What with most of you being musicians, I would imagine this method to be not exactly entirely alien to you… Most of you are probably nodding along by now. Not the HAL (A.I.) mob. They’ve never had a musical idea in their lives. Their only voice memo would be “Note to self: must click ‘create song’ for Friday release”.
But what did we do before having a voice recorder on our phone? I’ll tell you what we did. We hummed and sang it on repeat until we got back home, whereupon we could record it on some sort of gizmo or other. That’s what MOST of us did. It was the only way to make sure we wouldn’t forget it. That’s what EYE did. But what about the more musically educated ones? Those ones had an advantage (as is often the case with education). Those particular musicians would always have a scrap of manuscript paper and a pen on them at all times. Much like a writer used to always carry around a notebook and pen. Actually, most normal people carried around some sort of notebook or diary and a pen. It wasn’t just the arty folk. My father still does just that. But the idea of “writing down” music still kind of amazes me. That one can write down sound. I suppose we could sing the words of a novel; it’s only the opposite. The thing is, our memory is not like a hard drive. We always need SOME sort of method in order to not forget. We use what is quickest and easiest.
Trains. I love taking trains. Proper trains, I mean. Not the Underground/Tube/Metro or whatever you like to call it. That’s still as awful as ever. Proper TRAIN-trains; it just doesn’t matter where I am going, or how long the journey is. I simply love it. Always have done. But the station platform can be dull. Sure, there’s the anticipation, but ultimately you’re simply waiting. This is where the phone can once again sedate this inevitable boredom and frustration as the train that’s never late, is late. So you do that awkward swing into the palm with thumb and middle finger, complete with the slight heart jolt as it nearly slips, and you’re off! Into the land of screen. Then you put it away again after a minute or two. Then you start humming to yourself. “Hey, that’s not bad, actually”… You hum it again. “Yeah, that’s got potential”. Out the phone comes once again: blessed Voice Memos app to the rescue! And the train is here. This is exactly what happened to Mats Dernánd. Well… Not quite… Please welcome Mats Dernánd with his latest single, Waiting for a Train (feat. Per Alexanderson). I reviewed Mats Dernánd nearly 200 articles ago…! Which gives you an idea of how long he’s been with the New Artist Spotlight.
The French are known for being somewhat snooty, but in my experience they are known for their professionalism and determined striving for perfection. It’s a damned good thing. They tend to keep themselves to themselves, not so much because they are shy (they tend not to be), but because they are simply very busy and immersed in their work. Although I don’t know Mats very well, I get the feeling that encapsulates him pretty well. I might of course be ENTIRELY wrong. He could very well be the snootiest of the snoot! But I doubt it. Besides, despite that very French looking surname and face, Mats is not French; he is Swedish. So why did I mention all that about the French?? Only to keep you on your toes. Let’s get back to that train platform. There he was; waiting. Waiting for a train. Being a composer/songwriter, it is quite natural that he should be humming something or other to himself. This is what we weirdo musicians do, especially in the duller times. Here he stood, quietly singing to himself, while imagining the rest of the production behind his vocals. He knew he had something good here. So out pops the phone, right? Wrong. But whyever not? Because this circumstance was not recent. It was in fact long before the days of mobile phones (or at least before they were mini magic computers). So he kept on humming; singing under his breath, until the train pulled up alongside. He knew that he could use the handy onboard tape recorders (available then at every four-person table), once he had boarded. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Your trains never had onboard tape recorders for everyone to use. Well, neither did Mats’. I just made it up. But wouldn’t that have been cool? I digress. Now on board this romantic locomotive, it was time for him to “whump” himself into the deeply padded seat and ruffle through his satchel. A sheet of manuscript paper and a pen were all he needed, if only to relieve his current mind of this musical burden, so he can get on with staring out of the window, blissfully free from thoughts. After having scribbled down the ditty in dot form, he “played” it in his mind one last time. It was correct. Now he could enjoy the rest of the trip.
I mentioned that this was many years ago… Well, despite the melody popping into Dernánd’s tête de temps en temps (still Swedish), it basically remained as a scrap of manuscript paper, long lost. But this frequent “popping in unannounced” led him to believe that it might be worth finally doing something with it. It was poking and pestering him like that last lonely slice of cake, wishing to be devoured. It was whispering “You haven’t forgotten about me, have you?”, but Mats kept telling himself the melody was too old, and probably therefore inferior. He only liked to work on new ideas. Boy, do I know THAT feeling! I have so many albums-worth of material, all complete, but “it’s too old”!! It ain’t too old for everyone else! They’ve never heard it. Aside from albums-worth of finished songs, I have thousands of incomplete songs and little ideas. Many thousands. All on my phone (don’t worry, it’s all backed up). I imagine this to be much the same with Mats Dernánd. But because there’s so much, you’re only ever interested in the latest thing. The fabulous news is, Mats plucked up the courage to make an old thing newer. From “waiting for a track”, to ‘Waiting for a Train (feat. Per Alexanderson)’. What does Mats have to say about it? “It’s probably my grooviest song to date”. Nice!!
I know what you’re all wondering. “Did I leave the iron on?” – No, not that. You’re wondering about Per Alexanderson. Well, so was I. I know he’s bloody talented (as is Mats). I spent a little while listening to his own work after having heard this very track. Fab. And I even noticed that he sometimes features Mats on his tracks, so it seems they like to share responsibilities. So does Dernánd always have Alexanderson on his tracks? Let’s just say it is customary, as Per usual. Mats has various very talented musicians on this latest release. Per Alexanderson is on guitar and choir duties, Pelle Claesson is the skin beater, Magnus Sjöquist lays it down on the bass, and Niclas Bäcklund chunks out the sax. Mats himself sings all the vocals and (incredibly) plays the trumpet, organ, and that BLINDING harmonica!! Once amassed, it was all mixed flawlessly by Fredrik Åkermo. So, although Per gets the feature, it features quite a few special people! It’s all proof that if you really want the best of everything, you have to hunt down the best of everything. Mats is quite the hunter. It all makes up the total of a fabulously “easy” song. I don’t mean easy, like “anyone could have done it”. I mean “easy” like Sunday morning. It really does groove with style. It’s very cool in a slinky, Steely Dan kinda way. Not meaning it sounds like Steely Dan, but that it gives me that same comforting, satisfying smile. I must say, though, what truly GOT me. That harmonica. It is stupendously played. And when I found out it was played by Mats himself, I was even more flabbergasted. On the harmonica it is pretty easy to play simple blues licks and Love Me Do. But to sound like Stevie Wonder, is something entirely different. To have such control over such a tiny thing – ahem. And finally, does anyone else think Mats sounds uncannily like Bowie? We all waited unknowingly for years, but finally this train has arrived. I love that it departed from a scrap of manuscript paper, rather than a recording on a phone. But you’re not gonna stop me using my beloved little app.
Do you use Voice Memos? What are your most used phone apps? Let me know in the comments!
Once Mats had finished writing his melody, he put his satchel in the luggage rack and ordered dinner. He had l’escargot, less cargo, and still remained Swedish.
Listen to 𝙒𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!
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