Charles Connolly

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.

𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡’𝙨 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙 – 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙

Charles spies with his little pies…

Have you ever wondered if someone you know is perhaps not quite who they seem? Someone you have known a long time? Someone you feel you know well, yet at the same time you realise you know very little about them? Someone who perhaps has to disappear for brief bursts? They say it’s business, yet you’re never actually quite sure what it is they do, other than “business”. Does this ring a bell? It’s somewhat familiar to me. I know a chap who goes away regularly. Seemingly every few weeks. Actually, not seemingly; this happens. He’s always extremely busy, yet able to fit in anything that life hurls at him. If you want something done, ask a busy person – so the saying goes. Sure, he could simply be doing his job in “business”. Sure, he might simply not be interested in talking about said “business”… But I can’t help but wonder…

Wonder about the ins and outs of his business? No, no, no. That’s deadly dull, and I’m not remotely interested. I can’t help but wonder if this “business” is a usual sort of business. You see, I have a somewhat overactive imagination (it makes life more interesting). I’m also natural inquisitive, and (unfortunately) naturally suspicious. Okay, let’s just say what I mean. I think my friend might a spy. This is based entirely on precisely zero. There is pretty much no reason why I should be thinking this. Perhaps it’s just me trying to make life a little less dull; who knows. Perhaps it’s because I quite like the idea of knowing James Bond. But then again, there is always the chance I am right. Yes, it’s doubtful, but it could very well be true. I will probably never know. Should he actually be a spy, I should hope he’s on the right side. It would crush me to discover that not only had he been a spy for all these years without mentioning a word of it (he’d be a rubbish spy if he had), but that he had been working for the “other side”. Only just very recently have I learnt that the chap is moving. He and his family are going to live in a faraway land. A place with an entirely different culture and way of life. And it was THIS that confirmed my suspicions (without actually confirming a damned thing). He told me in person, over a pie. Suspicious, no? A pie is smart, neat and nonchalant on the outside, yet filled with secrets. Had my friend been a pie all these years?

So, this pie of mine. I went into my novelistic mind as I imagined him crossing that border; something he does frequently. The difference being, this pie had always returned. Not this time. I gather it is to be for roughly two years – I assume the length of the “Top Secret operation”. Once he arrives there, he will be a new man. A man with no past. A man with no acquaintances. He will be welcomed as a “man of business”, not a “pie of business”, for to them he has no secrets. There, he will seem much as he had seemed here. Just a businessman going about his duties. And yet, still, I can’t help but wonder. Is he sharing secrets? Is he secretly filming at all times through his electronic glasses? Is he taking coded notes? Is he seen to enter a café at 1pm, only to leave at 6pm through the back door? But then I wonder about something else. He is my friend, you see… I wonder if he is safe? I also wonder if he is armed…! But then I start to wonder further… IS he my friend? Does his family actually exist? Is everything simply an illusion formed from a manner and what I have been told? Or am I just unhealthily suspicious, bordering on paranoid? I suspect I am simply using my powers of observation and imagination, blending the two to best feed my creative compulsion. My pie is probably not a pie, and instead as blatant as a roast beef dinner. What you see is what you get.

On the subject of pies- sorry: spies; allow me to welcome you to something refreshing in all ways. The song is ‘Devil’s Right Hand’. The artist is a duo called Crash World. They have never appeared here before, despite having released some excellent songs over the years. These two Vancouverites (or Vancouverians, as I like to say – pronounced Van-koo-VAIR-ee-ans) both have Scottish roots. Although a duo, these two make sure to hire other musicians as well for the recordings, so it does still sound like a full band, rather than an acoustic duo. I have always gone for their music; mainly because they take it seriously. Some artists make music that sounds like a casual afterthought. Something that occurs briefly while they’re stirring their tea. But to make something really worth listening to, one has to put in the time and effort. The days of the repeated-four-chord-sequence must surely die soon. The lyrics that slumber without so much as a turn from night to morn. The predictability that bears the question: “What for?”… I like artists who show their worth. Artists who challenge themselves. Artists who bother. Artists who genuinely know how to make great music, through their own years of experience. And this is just where Crash World comes in. These two Scottish Canadians have a certain confidence in their sound and manner that doesn’t come close to arrogance. It’s more like “What, you mean YOU can’t do this? I thought we ALL could”. When something is so natural to you, it seems impossible that anyone else might struggle with it.

These two eccentric lads are Glen MacLeod and Graham MacDonald. Glen is the writer, guitarist and also does backing vocals. He’s the one with the style. Graham is the voice of the band. He’s the one with the weighty backbone. I suppose in a way, Glen is the Paul, and Graham is the Lennon. To be fair, both Glen and Graham are not only eccentric, but both very stylish. They both look inherently cool. Whether it be Glen’s facial hair (imagine if Salvador Dalí had opted for a beard), bowler hat, black suit, black shirt and white tie, or Graham’s heavyset, imposing stature, snazzy Las Vegas jackets and sporting what seems like a colourful yet flattened hedgehog atop his otherwise shaven noggin, the name of the game is style. And a style of their own. But putting all this aside, it’s the music that brings them together (or at least keeps them together). And it’s the music that lured me in. Despite the subject matter being frankly fascinating, I must admit it was the music that initially tugged at my elbow, yelling “Pick Me! PICK ME!”. And so I did it pick it. Of course, the pro sound made the experience pleasing and more enticing than some other releases, but it was the songwriting that kept me listening. As to the lyrical theme of the song, it’s about the idea of a spy in a foreign land, from the spy’s perspective. And yes, this spy is seemingly working for the other side. I don’t know if I have ever heard a song about that!! Just SO refreshing.

But what else is refreshing…? The music. How it’s written the way songs USED to be written. Sections within sections, lines leading to other lines, one chord setting up a new chord, unexpected constant change, but never feeling awkward or jazzy. Most songs these days feel like a triangle: walk for one mile, turn left, walk for one mile, turn left, walk for one mile – congratulations, it’s over. Where’s the JOURNEY?! It should feel like a train trip through the Scottish Highlands, not a flight from London to New York. Here’s a load of timestamps for ya: 0:00, 0:05, 0:10, 0:15, 0:26, 0:33… Just over 30 seconds in, and we have already had all these surprises. Fast forward to 1:00 and we get 1:10, 1:21, 1:26 – it’s just constant change. This is what songwriting was always supposed to be. Not just four chords ad infinitum. Music is supposed to evolve, not repeat. Sure, we need the hooks to repeat through the course of the song, but it shouldn’t be possible to condense a whole song into 20 seconds without missing loads out. So, yeah, that’s the writing side of things – it’s exquisite, and it frankly kinda gives me hope for the future of music. As to the singing and the playing… Phwoah! Graham has just one job here: singing. Boy, he belts like caramel. At first I was thinking he sounded like a Texan Bryan Ferry, but then I realised he’s actually more like Elvis – as he might have been had he lived through the 80s, and eaten fewer peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwiches (I still shudder every time I hear that concoction). As to the instruments, they’re sublimely played. Glen has already been busy with the writing, but his layers of guitars are session-man-good, with a couple of cracking little solos in the second half. But what really grabs me in the instrumentation is the bass and drums. The drums will be more obvious to you, but do try to pay attention to the bass. Much of the time it is neatly bold in the low end, but other times it has the most fabulously nosy manner! It’s like an eager garden mammal when faced with the prospect of just so many nuts ripe for the picking. Yup, that’s how I’ll end this piece.

That garden mammal is full, and so am I. Look, I started with a pie, and finished with two Big Macs.

Listen to 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡’𝙨 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙 on the Connolly’s Corner Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡’𝙨 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙 on the Connolly’s Corner Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡’𝙨 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙 on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 on TwiX HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘿𝙤𝙬𝙣 – 𝘽𝙧𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧

Charles goes from hero to zero…

To say “We are all heroes” would be a very positive, modern way of making us all feel good about ourselves. It would also be a conscious lie. While many of us might be doing very well in life, we can’t all be heroes, or the word loses meaning and status. We must however all HAVE heroes. It is important to have someone to admire. This is mainly for two reasons. One, because we all need aspiration; we need to strive. And two, with no one above you, your ego will spiral out of control. So, those heroes really need to be solid. They need to be impossibly perfect. Choose wisely! We want a flawless glaze, not chipped china.

How, then, do we find such a “hero”? We’re all a bit rubbish… We ARE human, after all. We are fallible in so many ways. We do the wrong thing from time to time. But does this make us inherently bad people? Well, that all depends on intention and awareness. Being unreliable due to having ADHD does not make you a bad person. But being unreliable because you don’t care, perhaps makes you a selfish person (not necessarily “bad”, but it’s edging that way). So, when choosing a hero (we rarely consciously “choose”; it just happens), we need to find the person or people with the least flaws. But even then, it can be difficult. Say you’re a businessman and you look up to Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, it ain’t because they’re kind, lovely people, but because they are absolutely superb at business (whatever their methods). And let’s face it, aside from “my mum” (oh come on) or “my dad” (you’re just saying that), most people’s heroes are celebrities. Sorry, what’s that? Apparently the phone lines have lit up due to complaints about the previous parental comment. Okay, you’re quite right. I very much look up to both of mine. I just feel like a hero should be disconnected and untouchable. A bit like a god. So when one of those parentals asks me why all their emails have disappeared, it’s not quite the god I had in mind. I do however wholeheartedly apologise for any distress my previous comment might have caused (I believe that’s the standard plastic response we’re meant to use these days).

With most of us being artists, our heroes will probably be famous artists. It stands to reason. However, in art there is always this difficult balance of art versus artist. While the art may remain pure, it can be tainted within our minds because of the artist’s personality or even wrongdoing. Yes, I have touched on this before, but in this increasingly scandal-driven society, it seems more and more pertinent. When connecting with an artist’s art, we tend to connect with the artist. I completely understand that it is hard to love the creation if you despise the creator. But why? Why do we automatically associate one with the other? We all know Picasso’s work, but because he lived a little while ago, you probably don’t know much (if anything) about the artist, so the personality becomes irrelevant and we concentrate solely on the art itself. Which is brilliant. These days, though, I wonder if he would survive the inevitable chastisement for his hot and cold adulterous behaviour. In this present climate, being a celebrity is a VERY dangerous game, it seems. Can you imagine being surrounded by suspicious eyes hunting for flaws? Can you imagine the hateful judgement around every corner? Some celebrities are almost ousted from society for not smiling when greeted by a fan. Other celebrities are hated for wanting to change the colour of their roof. But then there are the genuinely bad celebrities. The ones who have committed horrific crimes. This is where things really do get serious. How can you continue to love and admire someone who is a convicted rapist? This heinous felony is no error of judgement. No mistake. No “whoops, I made a boo-boo”. And yet, their art remains innocent. THIS is the problem. We feel let down. And it’s a CRYING SHAME!!!

One such rapist is an artist called Br-… PHONE LINES!!!! Whoops, I made a boo-boo. I wholeheartedly apologise for such a joke in incredibly poor taste. Or whatever. Oh, the joys of NOT being a celebrity. Bryan Cooper is a good friend and a fabulous musician. He is also fully equipped with a wonderful, dry, English sense of humour; something he took with him when migrating from chipped china to judicious Japan. We’ll get to my pick of the week (‘Heroes Let You Down’) in a bit. First, though, let’s step back and have a look at the bigger picture. You see, this is not just an isolated song release. And neither is it even a new song. It is a remastered version of a single from 2022, as part of a compilation. This album is the release. Once I had spotted its existence on Thursday, I assumed it was the complete collected works of Bryan Cooper thus far. After further delving, I realised it was only 11 of his previous 20 released songs – so by no means the complete collected works, but the SELected works of Bryan Cooper. I kind of wish it had been called ‘Natural Selection’, but then again he’d have the crows chewing on his shoulder. Going by his choices, I would say it is less a “best of”, and more just simply “musings on a theme” – musically they are of the same ilk. So, although a compilation, it still “reads” like an album. Which I like. Mini review of the album (‘Transmission Coda: Selected Works 2022-2026’)…? “Bloody brilliant from beginning to end. Just supoyb. Go (and) listen!”. Now let’s get to the song at hand.

‘Heroes Let You Down’; the title is not a question, but a statement. Which did interest me. It suggests the inevitable, rather than the potential. There are various ways of looking at the song’s meaning. There is, of course, the way I stated above. But then there is the rather more manipulative way, which seems to be more how Bryan means. How the stars are portrayed, versus how they actually are. This is not a new concept by any means; look at 1950s Hollywood: the impossible dream… In Bryan’s own lyric, he seizes that vital word: “Propaganda”. But this conspiracy theory isn’t just related to artists. This could be about a politician, a business entrepreneur or a member of the Royal Family… But then again, let’s just suppose it IS about an artist. We’ve all been there. The artist you have adored since age 11. You had all their records, you had the posters, you went to see them live several times. You even posed in the mirror doing impressions of them! I see those red cheeks of yours. Then years later, you find that the whole industry has known bad things about them for such a long time, but for the sake of money and scandal they’d chosen to keep those secrets locked up, until even the big boys could no longer contain the horrible truth. My question has always been this. Should we dump the art with the artist? That art is still the same art it was when you loved the artist. It makes me think of when a murderer’s home is demolished because it belonged to that murderer. Surely the house wasn’t in on it… Are people that superstitious? Or is it just an association that is impossible to shake…? Probably. Which is so sad. Innocent art made by guilty creatures.

Thankfully, here we get both sainted art and saintly artist. The best of both worlds. One of the disadvantages of Bryan being such a great songwriter, is that it can detract from his brilliance as a guitarist. One is so absorbed in the music, that it’s often easy to gloss over the playing itself. And that’s how this song begins. A guitar melody that sounds as though this axe is just another limb. It’s as though his fingers are singing. His technique was never learnt but simply there. Much like we never learnt how to feel. This is all amplified by relentless yet subtle bending of the pitch, as well as the layers of manipulated guitar underneath. Simply put, this man knows his tools. But the song is underway with bass and drums soon enough. It is all setup for the confident, heavenly vocals, 28 seconds in. Even these have been layered for texture. Such a personal voice, but it knows you’re listening. It’s not personal like a soft, private conversation you were privy to through crossed wires. It’s more like a captivating performance by the only trustworthy candidate. After several verse/chorus type things (it’s never quite as simple as the norm with Bryan), we hit the masterful guitar section at 1:05, which continues for about 30 seconds. It’s like a demonstration on how to flick. The most unique way of playing. The only guitarist who plays even close to this style, is Graham Coxon. But what I find captivating is just how many notes Bryan is able to fit in, while never coming close to sounding annoying, show-offy, or jazzy. It always just works, and it sounds as natural as playing a slow major scale. I feel like the guitar is his closest friend. Every flick is like a ruffling a dog’s submental region. No, that’s not what you think it is. Oh look, just listen. And while you’re at it, set aside the 32 minutes it will take to listen to the whole LP.

If you’re currently looking for a new hero, I might strongly suggest Bryan Cooper. There’s enough disconnection, he’s kind and honest, he’s never made a bad record, and he knows how to use his email. He won’t EVER let you down.

Righto, I now have to recover my god’s emails, despite having an itchy submental region. PHONE LINES!!!

Listen to 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘿𝙤𝙬𝙣 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘿𝙤𝙬𝙣 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Watch 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘿𝙤𝙬𝙣 on YouTube HERE!

Listen to the 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙙𝙖: 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 2022-2026 LP on Spotify HERE!

Listen to the 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙙𝙖: 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 2022-2026 LP on Apple Music HERE!

Listen to the 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙙𝙖: 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 2022-2026 LP on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝘽𝙧𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝘽𝙧𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧 on TwiX HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 – 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚

Charles commands his audience…

“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players”. Wise words from The Bard. I think more so than ever, we take this literally. Life has become a theatre. While we used to warm to the comforts of tradition and still calm (the predictable status quo), these days we seem to crave unexpected newness; whether it be desirable or not. We are glued to our screens when horror strikes. But another way we seem literally to treat life as theatre, is the way so many of us act so naturally to the camera. We speak to its lens like a close friend. We exaggerate movements and expressions in order to garner views and comments. We need the rapturous applause! Basically, we are anything but content behind all the content. Monotony is no longer meditative, but an unliveable torture, as if you have been told “No more heroin for YOU, little miss missy”…

For me, very little in this world is more exciting than art. Art is what humans create for humans to enjoy. It is a connection and a bond between us all. Nature is fab and all, but we can’t quite have the same respect and awe as when it is created by we mere mortals. With nature, it just happens, no matter how incredible and beautiful it is. Great art is more than the art itself. It is the expression of man. The skill of man. The experience of man. The ingenuity and originality of man. Yes, of woman as well (obvs.). So… Why is it that so much art these days is so dull and so tedious? Within the last couple of years we have watched HAL (A.I.) copy humans. But in more recent times, I have noticed something quite frightening. More so, I mean. Humans seem to be sounding more and more like HAL. It is as if we are copying the copy. But the original copy was already inferior and quite plastic. So what we end up with (in the copy of the copy) is something so utterly predictable and frankly pointless, yet still created by man. It is like we are making art for the sake of making art. “Art for art’s sake (money, for God’s sake)” – thank you, 10cc. Are we to go on in this manner? To plonk another piece on the pile so as to make it taller…?

I think somewhere down the line we lost something. Despite us all being actors these days, we seem to have misplaced the theatre. The audience is ready and willing (can you hear them chanting from the auditorium?), and yet there is no stage. The good news is, this isn’t universally true. We still have pockets. Few, but deep. Shall we look at the theatre of music? No, I don’t mean musical theatre. I mean theatrical music. We’ll gloss over the 1950s because the only theatre we got was gyrating hips set to 3 chords. The 1960s brought us The Who, The Doors and Pink Floyd (the early days with Syd Barrett). Even without seeing these acts, the music was definitively theatrical, exciting and fuelled by drugs. The 1970s was really the most theatrical decade of relatively recent times. Even normal people were sporting platform shoes, flares, sideburns (less so the women) and any manner of flamboyant wear. And in music, we had Queen, 10cc, Kiss and David Bowie. Does it get more theatrical than these acts? The 1980s realised ways of bringing theatre into true pop music: Toto, Michael Jackson, Kate Bush and Prince. The 1990s decided that anything could be mainstream, as long as it was new and magnificent; cue Björk, Blur and Slipknot. The 2000s saw a return to the classic days of theatre in music: Muse, Lady Gaga and Rufus Wainwright. Now, the 2010s is where it all gets a little tricky. This is when things started to go a little plastic and sterile… We can’t blame HAL for EVERYthing… There were still a few excellent theatrical music acts, though: London Grammar, The Dear Hunter and Benjamin Clementine. But we had such hope for the 2020s. That we might resume the magic of music; but HAL ruined that. The good news is, the human excitement is genuinely coming back. It started with Billie Eilish, but latterly we rely on acts that aren’t strictly “pop”: Wolf Alice, Jacob Collier, The Last Dinner Party, and RAYE. Of course, you’re all screaming and shouting that I missed out “this” and I missed out “that”. There will be TONNES of ones I’ve missed out. But I’m not the Encyclopaedia Britannica (or the theatrical equivalent: Wikipedia).

RAYE is the one that really made me think about all of this. Her latest album is an absolutely staggering feat, rocking the mainstream world, hopefully worrying the likes of Ed Sheeran etc.. Isn’t it lovely that Ed Sheeran is FINALLY out of favour? ENOUGH of the deadly dull. OUT with the utterly predictable!! RAYE managed something of all eras, yet somehow wholly modern. I really hope this makes the mainstream try a little harder, but not COPY HER!!! We need exciting originality. I crave it constantly since you took away my heroin. Thankfully, this love of theatrical resonance is here in the independent world. Not in abundance by any means, but there are smatterings of it hither and thither. One such smattering was delivered to my ears many months ago. Last year, in fact. An artist I have been quietly following from last year to this day. Every release simply different from what we usually hear on various playlists. And I don’t mean it’s just full of weirdness and dissonance. There’s plenty of that, but not here. I am speaking of the English rose, Jasmine Catherine. She has a history of actual musical theatre and is classically trained to boot! She must therefore be rather good at booting. Every single one of Jasmine’s releases is theatrical to the extent that each could be included in a Lord of the Rings film. Some have said Disney, but I think it’s rather more sophisticated than this. I sort of think of it as opera for the modern pop ear.

This is ‘The Dark Days’, released in October of last year. Of course, she has had several releases since, but I thought this particular one would be a good introduction for you all to understand what it is that Jasmine Catherine creates. Have you heard of her? Perhaps not. Should you have done? Absolutely. Hence THIS. I called her the English rose because she is from England, but not just because of that. Her features are pure, with long, naturally red hair, bright blue eyes, and the kind of skin that screams “sun, be GONE!!”. Her speaking voice is just the kind of English accent we all hear in Harry Potter and Hugh Grant films, but rarely in real life. With this voice she even reads audiobooks! She is obsessed with fairytale and fantasy. She does not scroll at 2am. She reads at 2am. She seems to have two obsessions: reading and making music. Jasmine is of a mythical past. But from this idyllic era, let us turn to ‘The Dark Days’.

The piece (I can’t quite call it a song) is unique. In a way it is classically filmic, but in other ways it is somehow modern. Vocally, there are similarities in fellow indie artist Jessica Mia (singer for Jane Marie’s songs), but I think one sings differently when the piece is self-written. It is nearly impossible to compare this piece to any other artist, because of how original it is. But if I had to, I would mention London Grammar, Wolf Alice and The Last Dinner Party in terms of voice, Kate Bush in terms of daring, and RAYE in terms of being able to blend musical theatre with something more accessible and altogether cool. I am beyond impressed with the sophistication of the writing and arrangement. Very adulty, yet so youthful. The backing vocals also have a teensy-weensy bit of Billie Eilish. What astounds me about ‘The Dark Days’ is how it is less than four and a half minutes. Too much happens in such a brief amount of time. And yet, the whole piece takes its time. This isn’t by any means some sort of frenetic jazz nutcase of a piece. It is ultimately beautifully classical, but the writing and production take it places you just weren’t expecting. Take, for example, the opening distant violin ostinato (which is absolutely perfect)… It could go anywhere from here, but alongside Jasmine’s initial line, there is something very dark indeed. At first I thought it was a bass trombone, but within seconds I realised it was perfectly following her vocal melody. More than the melody, in fact. It is – I believe – her very vocal recording, pitched down by two octaves. It’s just NOT what you would expect to hear from ANYone! Then just as you have settled into the current climate, the weather changes (such is the way in England). Jasmine sings the line “And you ask yourself, are these the dark days?”, and there is a pause. Up to this point, the voice is coated in a soft but lush hall reverb, but at the point of “days”, it is switched off – reminding you that we can do anything in the 21st century, and that all is not perhaps as it might seem. The orchestra ensues, complete with deep strings (both bowed and plucked), timpani, tubular bells, and a choir. This violin ostinato (played by Adrian de Lima) runs through most of the piece for momentum. From this moment the production (by Nicole Gisbourne) sets sail, and from this moment, the unstoppable sea crashes on, despite numerous obstacles. I could of course go into SO much more detail, but I understand, you all have things to do. At least make sure that one of those things is pressing play. And if you still have a bit of time, make sure to catch up on ALL 9 of her releases so far. I’m very much looking forward to Jasmine sealing them all together in a neat little LP – if she chooses to do that.

And now the curtain falls to close
The story of an English rose
With English eyes and English nose
I hope you liked my English prose

Listen to 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Watch 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚 on Instagram HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝘼́𝙧𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙣 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙧 – 𝘼𝙙𝙖́𝙣 𝙍𝙖𝙢𝙞́𝙧𝙚𝙯

Charles discards his inner geek…

In my line of work, I listen to a great deal of music. Nah, let’s start again. I listen to a great deal of music. I always have done. But even more so in recent years, perhaps due to my line of work. Yeah, that’s better. And what’s my line of work? Some of you may chortle at such a question because to you it’s very much known. But I have come to realise that many newer members of the community actually have no idea what I do, other than writing these weekly articles. I’m a mixing engineer, a fixing engineer and a producer. This is what I do for my pennies, in order to retain that flapping roof over my head (and I don’t mean a combover). I also make music of my own – although there haven’t actually been any new releases in quite a while. Friday did however see the release of a new Bernice Marsala song, which features me in various ways. It’s called Crazy One. So that’s one shameless plug done. The other shameless plug is this. Should you feel that your music could do with a little oomph, un petit peu de pizzazz, or even just a little loving (early in the morning), feel free to get in touch with me. Whether it’s just a little vocal tuning or click removal, whether it’s a general mix, or even a full production; maybe the song just needs a bit of balancing… I’m here to help. I’ll stick a link at the bottom of the article for anyone who might be interested – here you’ll find more info, a playlist of my mixes and productions, and some before/after videos. Right. Shameless plugs are done. I don’t really like doing this, but occasionally promo is necessary – I am notoriously poor at promotion. Apologies to those who thumped the table with a clenched fist while muttering profanities. You can unclench now.

Where was I? Oh yes. Listening to a great deal of music. This is what I do when I’m not working (working is also a time of constant listening). I have noticed a change over the years in how I listen to music. I used to listen like normal people. Hearing the song as a whole. Just simply enjoying the music – or not, as the case may be. But it was just about enjoyment. The joy of music; the reason I fell in love with music in the first place. Lately, however, I have found myself zoning in and analysing. I have naturally turned into a bit of a geek. Sure, I still can’t help but hear the song itself, but I tend to concentrate on the nitty-gritty. This is something I simply cannot help. It is my job. It is my life. I am fascinated by how a piece is put together. Compelled by production techniques and mixing magic. I think one main reason this is happening now and not, say, a decade ago is because artists tend to (seemingly) concentrate more on the sound, the performance and the feel than the writing itself. Meaning that there is more emphasis on production and mixing than the bare bones of the song. The wow factor has changed from “Woah, that melody makes me tingle” to “Woah, it feels like it’s surrounding me” (or “Woah, that bass kicks ass”). And I believe to a certain extent, that this is the case for many modern listeners – we have all become a bit geeky.

Occasionally, though, the technical aspect takes a backseat and we are overwhelmed (in a good way) by the art, and not by the craft – like we used to be. Of course, the sound is still absolutely vital, otherwise its flaws can be a distraction from the art. The best mixing is invisible/inaudible. The best production is simply inseparable from the song itself. Have you noticed that you pay attention to the mixing on independent releases more than mainstream releases? That you concentrate more on the song itself with mainstream releases? This tends to be because they have a team of 10 people making sure that everything is perfect, regarding the technical aspect, leaving our ears free to admire the mediocre mainstream song itself. Because, yes, writing has undoubtedly gone downhill when it comes to the mainstream. They tend to rely on around 3 of the world’s hottest mixing engineers to save a weary song from drowning. And that’s where independent music tends to shine… The writing. The best is leagues above the mainstream. But then the sound can sometimes be lacking. Which (for me, at least) is a mighty shame – hence my initial second plug above. Ahem. Great, balanced sound allows your unique song and artistry to shine. Adding great sound to great music trumps the mainstream.

That feeling of being taken over by the music, is something to which nothing else compares. When the only distraction is a welcome one: the music becomes a distraction from life. But you know what also makes a welcome change? Listening to something different. Something you might not usually choose to listen to. Something that wouldn’t even occur to you. Take, for example, classical music. Honestly, how many of you have actively put on a classical piece of music, album or playlist in the month? I would imagine, relatively few of you. And I get it, there’s no solid beat to nod to, no vocal line to sing along to, no lyrics to identify with, no swanky OWgan solo “with which to get funky” (thank you, Homer Simpson). But where it has none of these familiar pleasures, it has plenty of potentially unfamiliar ones. Sure, classical music can be a bit daunting if you’re not used to it. Or even if you ARE! There is just SO much, and some pieces can be an hour long. The automatic (and easiest) decision might be “Ain’t nobody got taam fo’ dat”, but if that’s the way you’re viewing life, then maybe you don’t deserve such goodness. We need to be open and willing, we need to be curious, and we need to bother. There is of course the risk that it doesn’t float your boat and you’ve potentially lost an hour of your life, but you don’t know until you try. You might kick yourself for having never given it the chance. It might be just what you need! When you eat out, do you always go for the same thing? Do you always opt for the tried and tested “safe option”? Or do you live a little and discover something new and fabulous? I understand that you might not like it, but it’s always worth trying new things.

This week’s new thing is not something that will take away much of your precious free time. I heard your sigh of relief as you unclenched once more. It is 2 minutes and 27 seconds, leaving you ample time to twiddle your thumbs afterwards. But somehow I doubt you’ll only want to play it just the once. In being such a brief piece, you can guzzle its goodness many times over, and STILL you’ll have plenty of time to do whatever you wish to do in your spare time. Please welcome Adán Ramírez to this particular Corner. Having appeared here once before, this Mexican man is not the type to occasionally release the odd ditty. Adán is evidently driven, as shown by his prolific output. Having done my fair share of writing over the years, I would say that it takes more time, effort and experience to compose a fully orchestrated classical piece, than to write and produce a pop song. And yet, Adán released 25 pieces, just last year! This new release of his – ‘Árboles en Flor’ – is his 7th of the year so far. Normally, with this kind of frantic output these days, I might naturally become suspicious. Especially if the quality holds up (which it does). Is this real music? Is this actually a plethora of human creations, or is this something rather more automatic, with the release being just as unfamiliar to the artist as it is to us…? Thankfully, Adán Ramírez prides himself on not using any HAL (A.I.) for his creations, because he sees that HAL has no place in the creative side of the art process. He enjoys this very process. That’s the whole point of a talented artist. And this particular one is highly prolific. While we don’t have many classical composers in the community, we do have a few. I do however consider Adán to be among the very best of them. Let’s look at ‘Árboles en Flor’.

Okay, let’s LISTEN to it, then. We commence straight in with a Spring field of woodwind. The bassoon cheekily and tentatively pads like footsteps up to no good, while flute, oboe and cor anglais (English horn) hold the windy melody in staggered harmony. Within just 12 seconds, the strings come into bloom. The piece translates as “flowering trees”, after all. By just 33 seconds in, we have soft horns marching carefully, so as not to compress the soil; their watering cans giving life to the strings that follow at 0:46, complete with cymbal swell and timpani roll. 0:54 gives way to the flutes, as they climb like a spiralling ivy with counterpart from the lower range woodwind. It’s like watching one of those mesmerising natural timelapses from an Attenborough series (Happy Centenary, Sir David!). The cor anglais and oboe then round off the flutes with a tip of colour. 1:35 sees a conversation between older, experienced strings and younger, eager flutes and piccoli. Our final 34 seconds is a culmination of everything as if it were truly Spring. A dazzling waltz! And yet… While the introduction seems somewhat positive and perky, this piece largely remains rather sad in a minor key, with doses of “maybe things will be okay in the end”. Perhaps this is Winter saying goodbye as it passes the baton to this new, fragrant season. As with all of Adán Ramírez’ work, he does everything himself, from first idea to final master. This is his way of sprinkling beauty on a world that needs all the beauty it can get. As usual, it’s pretty pointless to describe music, so you’d be much better off sticking on your headphones and listening. You might find your day to be that little bit more peaceful and enriched.

Do you think me insane for choosing a classical piece this week…? I can’t be the crazy one in the room…

Listen to 𝘼́𝙧𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙣 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙧 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝘼́𝙧𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙣 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙧 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝘼́𝙧𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙣 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙧 on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝘼𝙙𝙖́𝙣 𝙍𝙖𝙢𝙞́𝙧𝙚𝙯 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝘼𝙙𝙖́𝙣 𝙍𝙖𝙢𝙞́𝙧𝙚𝙯 on TwiX HERE!

Hire Charles to produce/mix/master your song HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝙋𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙤 (𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙃𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙞) – 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙗𝙚𝙣

Charles is just being friendly…

Here’s one potential way of life that isn’t necessarily the same as your own (or even MY own, but is perhaps more a male way of thinking):

When we’re young, we have loads of friends. It’s normal. Apologies to those of you who didn’t when you were young. But it is – I think – pretty normal. As we grow a little older, many of those friends fall by the wayside. It’s nothing intentional or conscious; it just happens. Then work, life and romantic relationships take over. Friends become less important and more an optional extra. Then you just forget all about them entirely. And ya know what…? You’re absolutely fine with that. Friends just aren’t that necessary anymore. Or so it seems…

Pootling along without a care in the world, those young adult years with the girl (or boy) of your dreams, everything seems peachy. Sure, you don’t meet up with all those friends you used to, but you’re utterly fine. And you’re sure THEY’RE not losing any sleep over it. This is pretty much the status quo for quite a time. There’s even a blob or two that comes along, and STILL you’re fine. Sorry, “blob” is my word for baby. But eventually, something changes in you. You want more. And I don’t mean money or power, or rich experiences as you travel through the great unknowns in the deepest, darkest crevices (or crevasses) of the potentially unexplored world. I mean that you want something BACK. Something you used to have. Your dignity? That’s long gone, and it ain’t never comin’ back. Your hair? Ditto. Your posture and somewhat svelte physique? Well, this can be worked on, but it’s hardly a craving, is it… I mean something much simpler. Something that demands a lot less physical exertion. Something so honest, casual and timeless. It comes in the form of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe… That’s right: Friends. That thing we nonchalantly cast aside and took for granted.

Friendship is without a doubt one of the most important things in life. Not necessarily hundreds or even scores of them, but a small close-knit band of them. Even just one or two – that’s all that’s necessary. But it IS absolutely necessary. It’s a bond, a chat, a good vibe. A time to vent, a time to lark about. A thing of warmth and reassurance. A place for honesty and frankness. Friends are who you speak with when talking to yourself just isn’t enough. While there’s a connection, there can be a fresh outlook or perspective. This friend is no Yes-man – otherwise you might as WELL be talking to yourself. A friend can make you feel less like a pawn and more like a courageous knight, themselves being the steadfast rook. That grounding is oh-so vital, hence the responsibility in being someone’s closest friend – they CAN’T let you down. And in being a traditional two-way friendship, YOU can’t let THEM down either… “I’ll be there for you, ‘cause you’re there for me too” – wise words from The Rembrandts. It’s funny: not long ago you used not to need this kind of companion. You were perfectly fine on your lonesome. But now, you find yourself going from lonesome to lonely. You just can’t be alone. Friends have made you a better person. You’re calmer, kinder and more fun. And yet when you’re alone, the old you seeps back in. So, when are you actually often alone…? In the car, maybe? Maybe… The resentment, the anger, the frustration, it all oozes out of the glove compartment (do we still actually call it that…? Ha!). You start to think. You start to OVERthink. You mutter and mumble to yourself, and then you scream at another driver (even though YOU were at fault). The devil emerges from within, and you yearn for a friend to come and put out the fire. But then you think back to a time when you were absolutely fine without those friends. You didn’t need them at all! YOU were that rook. What happened?! Did you get weaker and more frail as the years went by? Maybe, maybe not. The knowledge of “what happened” is something that frankly can’t be known. The funny thing is, you might not want to go back to those more resilient times. You’re probably better off as you are now.

There is however something to be said for being on one’s own. It’s often when we feel at our most free. Free from judgement. Free from self-awareness. Like when you escape life, once again dive into your car, lock the doors, press the “drive” button, then press the PLAY button. Firstly, the music takes over and you scream along to your favourite hits until you become hoarse (then scream along some more). Secondly, I have evidently never driven a car, because there is no such thing as a “drive” button. Yet. Anyway, THIS is when you let off steam and become a little bit more like yourself again. When you’re alone. The thing is, you might not like that “self” of yours. And before long, you need people again. You need company and interaction with others. It’s a balance, I suppose. A little bit of me-time; a little bit of us-time.

Let’s finally get to the music. Ben Wagner is the name of the game this week. But you’ll know him as bigbaldben, all lowercase because he’s just understated that way. In all seriousness, underneath that bigbald exterior lies an understated, affable chap of a man. A really modest soul with a gentle temperament. But when this Pennsylvanian rocks, he surely does ROCK!!! He’s extremely fun, you see. Please welcome our very own BFG (no, not Big Fat Guy), the Big Friendly Giant that is bigbaldben!!! It has been two whole years since Ben last appeared in my Corner, and since then he has released an entire 7-track MP (medium player) – ‘Thresher’ – piecemeal. But that’s old news. That was released as a whole in January. Get with the times, man! It’s April, dude! Wrong again – It’s May, dude! But on the 29th of April, Ben released what I can only assume to be the first of the next. The single is called ‘Psycho (in my Hyundai)’. But of course it is. What ELSE could you call a song about everything I said in the first few paragraphs…? Yup, unless I have got absolutely everything entirely wrong (plausible), that is exactly what this song is about. Friends, lone time and how it has all changed over the years. But ya know what else has changed over the years? Ben’s music! Sure, he’s still that heavy rocker with a penchant for intentionally sculpted dissonance, but this track has something different. It is a more honest, more adulty version of Ben. Normally he would never be seen without his triple or quadruple-tracked harmonies. He was never comfortable with the sound of his voice without that pad of harmonies. We all love those harmonies (and don’t worry, they’re still there in parts), but sometimes as artists we need to change. We need to journey. Sitting still is good in small doses. Then RUN!! And we can’t run very fast with a pack of harmonies on our back. Sometimes we need to strip to that singular unadorned vocal. It’s called “slimlining” (it’s not but it might as well be).

Middle-age is a tricky time in life (so I’m told – ahem). Some will decide never to change anything ever again – you tried that once, and look what happened). While others will feel suffocated by staleness, and finally bite the bullet. The pill is newness. Or in this case, the pill was singing lessons. Blimey! Who does that?? Who admits to themselves that they might benefit from singing lessons? Who Googles local singing lessons in their fifties?! Shall I tell you? Ben, that’s who. Ben was man enough to recognise and acknowledge what he saw as his own weaknesses (none of US thought that!) and thus sought advice in the form of singing lessons. Bloody amazing. Truly, hats off to you for doing this. ESPECIALLY in being a rocker. It had never even occurred to me that rock singers would train their voice, but of COURSE they do!! How else could they belt it out night after night, year after year, decade after decade?! Anyway, this training evidently gave Ben some new found confidence to try what he hadn’t really done before: let the backing vocals sit in the background, or even have a break for a bit. Good on ya, Ben! And ya know what? It turns out, less is indeed more.

This is much as it would sound if Ben was rocking out in his car, because in real life there is only one Ben. Until now, I have always heard Ben’s voice as a delicious chord. Somehow now it is more tactile. More human. I feel the words more because I can hear the human behind it all. But speaking of the human behind it all, this song ain’t a cappella… There is, of course, his quintessential guitar chugging. There is explosively slow and snappy drumming. There is that rumbling bass from a bassist who so desperately wishes he was Ben on guitar; coming up the rear, as it were. But as soon as we get to the first verse, aside from Ben’s vocals, we get what sounds like heavily filtered drums from a drummer desperately wishing to be a drum machine. I must say, though, the most impressive thing for me is the inventive writing coagulated with the guitar layers. Ben really knows what he’s doing. One thing I’ve always loved about ALL of Ben’s music is how deliberate everything is. This is song-craft with defined production. Nothing just happens to happen. There’s one repeated harmonic that reminds me of an ominous heart rate monitor in an X-Files episode – just before a black-eyed monster shoots out of the comatose victim’s throat. Or something. There’s a beep in there that sounds cool – coulda just said that. The irony of having fewer audible vocal harmonies, is that I find myself singing what would previously have been there – the harmony. But that’s because I do that. Not because it needs that. As to the actual overall sound, it’s pretty bloody flawless, due to producer/engineer Jack Fawdry, otherwise known as Jxckfruit (yes, that’s the spelling). Who he? Well, he’s worked with Sony and Universal, as well as the group Busted. I was very nearly the drummer of Busted. Or was it McFly? Either way, that’s a story for another time. The point is, Jack is the bee’s knees when it comes to sound.

Björk’s ‘You’ve Been Flirting Again’ lyric “Give her some time, give her some space” was right. But maybe there’s such a thing as TOO much time, and TOO much space… We need people. We need close friends. Otherwise we go insane, you see. La-la-la-la-la, boop-a-dee-boop-boop wa-wa-wa, sha-MONE!… Like that.

Apologies, Ben, if I got this all entirely wrong, and the song is actually about your wife.

Are you old enough to remember when I wrote that spoof episode of Cheers? I bet you’re pleased I didn’t do the same for Friends. Could I BE any more longwinded?

If a friend contacts you after so long and asks “What happened?”, just tell them “We were ON a BREAK!!”

Listen to 𝙋𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙤 (𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙃𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙞) on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙋𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙤 (𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙃𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙞) on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙋𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙤 (𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙃𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙞) on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙗𝙚𝙣 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙗𝙚𝙣 on TwiX HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪 – 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙣

Charles beckons…

Some of you have no doubt been quietly disgruntled that year after year I STILL haven’t reviewed a single one of your songs… This could be for a number of reasons. Perhaps it’s because you were pipped to the post by another at the very last minute. Perhaps it’s because you make a certain style of music that doesn’t resonate with me. Perhaps it’s because I can only review one song a week – that’s why the community opened things up with more song reviews by other reviewers. Perhaps it’s because you’ve made it known that you’re not a very nice person, regardless of the music quality. Or perhaps it’s because you’re just not very good… Nah; surely an impossibility… Well, those of you who feel this way are just about to get that little bit more humphy. More on that, after the break.

We’ve all been part of the community for differing periods. Some, for just a few months, while others have been here for 5 years or more! I personally, have been here pretty much since the very beginning in 2020. Meaning I really have seen all sorts of things and known all sorts of people. It really has been eventful. We’ve had the high highs and the low lows. We’ve had the darkest, mischievous characters; we’ve had the saints. We’ve had the ones we thought were saints who turned out to be mischievous characters. We’ve had the ones we thought were mischievous characters who turned out simply to be misunderstood innocents. We’ve had the colourful souls bursting with pep, vigour and vim; we’ve had the nocturnal sloths who only come out once in a blue moon. We’ve had the moaners, the explainers, the upbeats and the downright deadbeats. You see, we’ve had it all, because every community worth its salt is a microcosm of life itself. But much like life itself, it is easy to wander zombie-like through the samey monotony of it all. You get used to the way of something and quite quickly it becomes unthinking routine. That’s one of the reasons I write these articles every week. Sure, it might seem like the same thing again and again – Tuesday review day – but isn’t that like saying the newspaper is published every day…? It’s the content that differs. It’s important to not get stuck in a pit of habit-forming quicksand. We must keep moving, keep doing and keep evolving.

One thing we sometimes forget is that our little community is one of a billion. Our world is not everyone’s world. Take, for example, YouTube. YouTube is such a unique, interesting and frankly fascinating place. There can be a YouTuber who has 10 million subscribers. They earn a bundle, and are basically famous! But here’s the thing: they’re not. A famous YouTuber is famous to those who subscribe to them. It’s very different to a film star or pop star. We all know who Timothée Chalamet is, yet I have never seen him in a film. We all know who Ed Sheeran is, but many have never heard his music (lucky sods). YouTube is different. It’s a closed group. Admittedly a huge and embiggening group, but closed nevertheless. We tend to forget that “outsiders” exist. Or even that outsiders do occasionally pop their head in (intrigued to know what all the fuss is about)… So when a newcomer joins the community, they are often either ignored, or it is assumed that they know everything about everything that goes on here – drug deals, munition smuggling, counterfeit handbags – I’M JOKING!!!! Our handbags are genuine. Sometimes they might get a couple of polite waves or nods, but ultimately they are wandering aimlessly like a caveman who’s been magically transported to the centre of New York City – in awe, yet slightly terrified, paralysed and lost… There’s just too much to take in, and you don’t dare ask anyone anything because you don’t know who to trust, or even who to ask. OUR second nature might be THEIR chopsticks (“Where’s the f**king fork?!”)… While it might be just another day with YOU, it’s a whole new bag of beans with THEM.

And so, I would like to give a warm welcome to a fabulously talented newcomer. And by new, I mean NEW. Just a matter of days, can you believe. Everybody, please put your hands together for Anna Hansen! I meant applause, but yeah, pray if you wish – some do take me quite literally… Those at the back not clapping are evidently the sulkers getting more humphy by the minute… Let’s move on. So Anna, I hope you’ve been enjoying the sights and sounds so far. I know it can be daunting, and even time-consuming, but this goes for anything new. I trust you’re being treated well and taken care of. We’re a good bunch on the whole. I hear you were born in Iceland (home of Björk, Sigur Rós and many peculiarly accented letters), but you’re now living in Copenhagen, is that right? Of COURSE it’s right. CC (that’s me, by the way) does his homework. I will now address the class rather than just you. Why did I pick this newcomer over everyone else this week? Good question. Is it because she’s new? Is it because she’s stylish and chic? Frankly, it came down to trusting my ears. I listened to her music and I instantly heard quality. Simple as that. It could not be ignored. It was only when doing my usual research that I realised how new she was to the community. But something else caught my eye… Anna’s brand new single (‘Just Another Day With You’) is her first release in five years, and is only her third single ever. She started releasing the same year that a lot of us started – 2020: the year of the pandemic. The pandemic probably being the reason. Gotta do SOMEthing…! Then there was another single the following year, and then… nothing. So this fresh new slice of slick pop is more than welcome. “Slick pop…? But I thought you said she was from Iceland!!” – Oh ye of little scope… They’re not ALL weird over there. Besides, Scandinavia has given us PLENTY of pop over the years. For example, there’s… well I mean there’s… Look, pop is everywhere. Patrik Ahlm, there we go. Scandinavian slick pop. Oh, Anna, Patrik is a member of our community; just wanted to keep you in the loop. ABBA!! How could I forget them?! Sadly, they are not members of our community.

The thing is, in sound, there is NOTHING Scandinavian about Anna’s music. This is American pop. It has that glossy sheen. The sheen that half of us aspire to, while the other half shies away from it. It’s a love/hate thing, which I very much do understand. That’s what personal taste is all about. Anna has evidently immersed herself in the Nashville way. We used to have whole towns and lands built upon a certain trade, like mining, cotton, tobacco, leather, slippers (yes, slippers), but industry and international change have done away with most of this. A more modern industry town is Nashville. They built this city on pop and soul. It’s the hit factory! Slicker than an oil-smothered slipper-making machine. We went from slipper to slicker; sole to soul. As with the best of most pop, there are many people involved in ‘Just Another Day With You’. Both music and lyrics are written by Anna, Anders Bo Jespersen and Lockwood Barr. Aside from having the most astounding name, Lockwood Barr is the Nashville injection the song felt it needed; she’s a country artist born and raised in Nashville. Other than this lady, everyone else involved makes this a thoroughly Scandinavian affair. Basically, all the surnames end with “-sen” – dead giveaway. The performers are Anna (lead vocals and backing vocals), Anders (guitar), Rasmus Todbjerg Larsen (bass, keyboards, banjo and backing vocals) and Jens Bach Laursen (drums). I think I can safely say that very few of you will have ever heard such perfect musicians playing together – as is the Nashville way (if you’re not the best, you will not last long). Having played most of the instruments on the record, Rasmus is also the song’s producer – the man’s drowning in talent! Bastard. Finally, the piece is mixed and mastered – I was surprised to see that a record of this level did not have a separate mastering engineer (also the Nashville way) – by Brian Mørk Hansen. A chap who may or may not be a relation to Anna (Hansen is a very common name over there). Punk rockers will probably hate this song. But I think most of you will love it.

And so we get to the actual music itself – which I’ve been grooving to for ages while writing all this junk. We start subdued and mellow, but NOT lo-fi. A cleanly plucked electric guitar brings impeccable tone to a fabulous Tracy Chapman impersonation. It has the right amount of everything, from clarity to perfectly placed reverb. The drums are deep in the kick and clear ’n’ dry in the rim and hats. I can’t quite work out if there is a very quiet bass in there somewhere, or if that is part of that same guitar part; either way, it’s refined. Four bars later, Anna sings with the sound that all female pop singers aspire to, yet so few manage. Throughout the dismantling of this song, some parts remain welded in place… I cannot separate the performances from the mixing. It is whole. Which is why Anna’s voice sounds so perfect. Impeccable singing mixed impeccably. Imagine if you have a suit made for you… You can’t just pair it with an old pair of Converse (unless you’re a member of The Strokes). You have to go the whole hog and get the best shoes for the best suit. That’s why the singing (and indeed the music) goes hand in hand with the mixing. No mix should really ever be apparent. You should simply be aware of great music. Let’s get back to that great music. Exactly 30 seconds in, the bass shows its beautiful face (so it WAS the guitar before), complete with what could be the most sparkling acoustic guitar I think I have ever heard. The closest I have heard is in Take That’s first comeback album of 2006 (a very Nashville sounding record). The piano and electric guitars share the rhythm of Anna’s melody for the pre-chorus, before diving headfirst into the Natalie Imbruglia/Shania Twain-tinged chorus, complete with the tightest backing vocals. I mentioned that comeback record… As last year was the comeback year for the mandolin, this year seems to be the comeback year for the banjo. This banjo is just what brightens the chorus with the most lovely youthful bounce. The whole song features the classic tried and tested song structure of intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus. That chorus just keeps making a welcome comeback… “Comeback” is very much becoming a thing. Comeback is making a comeback…

Anna, have a drink. You’ve earned it.

As for the rest of you who have been around a while, why not strike up a conversation with some of the less familiar faces…?

After all these years, I’m still trying to get to grips with these chopsticks – “Where’s the f-”

Listen to 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪 on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙣 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙣 on TwiX HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙊𝙡𝙙-𝙁𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙊𝙬𝙚𝙣 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡) – 𝙆𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡

Charles is syncopated…

Nearly a third of 2026 has passed already, can you believe that? And isn’t it calming to finally have the entire world at peace? With everyone able to get on with everyone else? Where we can each live our life and have our own quiet thoughts and views without being opinionated or aggressive? Such relief. Oh… sorry… Either I was thinking about a different year entirely, or that was simply a dream. Or perhaps I was burying my head in the sand, oblivious to the smouldering embers permanently surrounding us all. We are certainly not at peace yet. Lord, no. I might go so far as to say, this is the most peaceless time of my life; and I’m sure my parents’ life too. There is raging fury in the upper echelons of power, so I’m told. And we are told a lot. Far more than we used to be. Which could be a major part of the problem. It’s not that there has been peace since WWII, it’s just that the peaceless parts of the world were simply not really on our radar. They “didn’t concern us”. And the Press did not go heavy on it like they do now; this used to be considered World News – for those who wished to broaden their outlook. These days we are told things like “The top man at the British Navy says we are not even close to being ready for war”. Excellent. Not only does that make me feel safe and cosy, but it’s also good to know that this info was not spread across the entire world for other nations to take note. Oh… sorry… Wrong again. It makes me feel as though my own front door is wide open, with my address posted online, complete with a list of things worth nabbing. It’s a short list, but if you happen to like hats, plants and cushions…

Another thing we are commonly told, is what to think, and how to think it. Not so much subtle swaying or suggestion, as backhanded brainwashing. As if this constant carnage is somehow to do with us… We had no say in any of this. We simply watch while wincing. Which is something we’ve always done. But there have always been our own private thoughts on it all. These days, it seems we are to think the way they want us to think. Nay: to FEEL the way they want us to feel. They used to want to sedate us; to hide it all from us, so that we can’t have an opinion. They seem to have now realised that our feelings CAN be an asset to them. If millions or even billions of people are cajoled into thinking a certain way, then the horror somehow has “good reason” to continue.

If you can resist it all, you might be fine. But you will need a great deal of willpower in order to get back to how you used to be; how you used to feel. I think most of us want our nice little life back. You know: friends and family, saving up for a holiday in summer, what you’re going to be eating tomorrow evening, justifying the cost of those new shoes when the soles haven’t quite fallen off your current ones… THESE are the things that used to be what life was all about. Sure, we were AWARE of what was going on in distant lands (and even quite nearby, but involving people you have never known), but it didn’t rule us. We didn’t all used to be opinionated fighters. It seems that politics is almost all that people talk about now. And it’s the one thing that we really genuinely CAN’T do anything about. Yes, yes, I know, “but if we all band together, we can make a difference”… Mm. It rarely works, let’s face it. And it only tends to anger even more people. So what do we do? We focus. We focus on our own little life. Do you remember love? Private love? No, not THAT kind of private love. I mean the kind of love that involves you and your partner, and no one else. No, I said NOT that kind of love – filthy minds, the lot of you. I can’t be the only one who is one half of a ridiculously silly couple… We are extremely silly. We laugh, we play, we say nonsensical gibberish that only WE understand. We make facial expressions that would make Charlie Chaplin envious. We dance when there’s no music playing, we point out how beautiful the sky is right now, only to embrace once again. We stand on each other’s toes for no apparent reason. I simply refuse to believe that we are the only ones like this. Because THIS (at least to me), is what love is. One, born for the other. It’s a good old-fashioned love.

And so we move to music. Those who skipped that first chunk don’t quite get what this is all about. These articles are not just music reviews. Music reviews are quite dull. Think of this more as a shared connection with the music or the artist at hand. I’m sure HAL (A.I.) could give me a brief rundown of what a song is about, or how the song is produced, but I feel that what we are missing in this modern world is the human element. The part that ISN’T factual or “necessary”. When I meet up with someone I know well, I of course want to know what they’ve been up to, and I wish for them to be as healthy as possible, but the reason I am meeting that person is to have a lovely time; to enjoy their company. And I’m sure that’s THEIR reason too! You don’t go home afterwards thinking “Well, that was quantifiably strategic and thus informatively nutritious”, do you! Sorry to interrupt – a reader has something to say: “What happened to ‘moving to music’…?” – Quite right! You’re quite right; it’s about time. Last week we had a woman and a woman, so I thought I’d mix things up a bit by reviewing a woman. Sexist pig, my FOOT! Please welcome Kelly Cresswell with her latest single, ‘Good Old-Fashioned Love’! Lyrically, the song basically outlines everything I have stated above – minus the toe-standing. The piece has no hidden meaning or metaphor of any kind, so you shouldn’t have any problems getting to grips with it. Although I do love the odd metaphor, I find that it can be a bit flowery and meaningless if not handled well. Ya know, when artists say “It means whatever you want it to mean”… Cop-out answer. When listeners asked me about the meaning behind my song ‘Parakeet’, my reply was “Meaning…? It’s a song about parakeets”. I don’t exactly go heavy on metaphor.

So, that’s the lyrics. Musically, we go all the way back to the 90s, early, mid and late. There was a massively successful genre that I’m not quite sure what to call. It blended acid jazz with pop, funk and soul. Although probably designed for the ears of the 30-somethings, I was 10 or 15 years old, and I loved it (but not as much as Supergrass). I can only describe the music by mentioning acts who dabbled in – or lived by – this sound. The Brand New Heavies, Morcheeba, Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, early Jamiroquai, M People, Simply Red, the Lighthouse Family, the lighter side of Seal, and the lighter side of George Michael. I think most of you will know at least a handful of these names, and so will be able to get some sort of gauge or grasp on what we’re talking about here. It’s easy, slick pop, written and played by professionals capable of far more than pop. But most importantly, it is designed to put a smile on your face. And that, it does. I gather that Kelly Cresswell was going for this kind of thang, and by Jove, she certainly managed! She is from a little English town called Widnes, which is in between Liverpool and Manchester. Meaning, she is sandwiched between The Beatles and Oasis… Having been in the community – admittedly modestly – for over two years, this is her first time in my Corner. Many of her releases have been hastily scribbled into my “maybe list”, but never quite made it to the “front page” – until now.

Although ‘Good Old-Fashioned Love’ is penned by Kelly herself, this venture is not quite a solo project. Few should be. Within a matter of seconds I’m sure you will realise (and gawp at) the high production standards of the piece – basically, as soon as the drums fade in fast. And THEN you will notice the incredibly funky bassline. It is all such pro-level! The production and mixing is achieved by a chap called David Gorst – the man evidently knows his stuff. The bassline, however, is played by none other than Kelly’s son, Owen! How bloody lovely is THAT?? But the thing is, this isn’t one of those “Let the kid have a go” moments. He’s damned good. I also have no idea if Owen is 28 or 12, but frankly I don’t really care. The point is, he’s brilliant. The bass is one of the key elements of the whole piece. Strip it of bass and it all falls apart. Even making the bassline less funky and less syncopated would flatten the energy and make the whole thing a little stale. But this isn’t to say it is ALL about the bass, HELL no! There’s so much here. The bright tambourine rides the groove throughout like a sexy metronome that’s just found God. Then there’s the Fender Rhodes laying the solid foundations every two bars, like a trusted, experienced father.

But before we get into pre-chorus time, this song ain’t an instrumental… Oh, KELLY! Such clarity and purity, yet such experienced seduction. The depth of her first line is impressive, but then she just LIFTS! Her precision with feeling is rare. It’s usually one or the other: precision lacking emotion, or feeling in a tempo all of their own. Knowing nearly nothing about Kelly, I actually wonder if she is/was a session singer. She just HAS that thang. As does her son. This voice… It knows when to slink into the vibe, when to get peppy with the syncopation of it all, and when to let rip. Like in my favourite part of the entire song: the way she sings the word “process” just before the first chorus. Ahh. Perfick. The chorus greets us with euphoric happiness; the kind of smile you envision when you think “gospel”. But that chorus also brings us a whole horn section! It’s tight, it’s balanced, it’s just enough excitement to make sure you dance without bashing your knee into the corner of the coffee table. Meanwhile, that bass constantly keeps my facial expressions busy: Ooh, Ah, Uhh!! Then what happens after the second chorus…? Of course, the usual thing: a talkbox solo. Wha-??! Yep, an instrument that converts any vocals into a synth via a length of hose (one end in the mouth, clamped by the chompers) – probably the most unhygienic instrument ever invented, but ya know: we artists suffer for our art. Splendid! The trumpets get a little more busy in the final chorus, just for a final rousing round of “Spill Your Drink Like There’s No Tomorrow”! And fade.

One final thing on the lyrics: she doesn’t want the kids to be “dragged into this mess” – I agree. Children and the young should be allowed to simply enjoy being young – youth doesn’t come up again later on in life.

There is so much more I could say about this song, but as always, it’s probably best if you just open up your ears and enjoy it for yourself.

I hope you all found this informatively nutritious, and not fun in the slightest. A toast to nonsensical gibberish! Careful, I might stand on your toes…

Listen to 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙊𝙡𝙙-𝙁𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙊𝙡𝙙-𝙁𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙊𝙡𝙙-𝙁𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝙆𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝙆𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 on TwiX HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙚 (𝙉𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙜𝙞𝙖) – 𝙅𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚, 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙈𝙞𝙖

Charles smokes his pipe…

I am both young at heart and older than my years. At my age (somewhere in the middle), it is easy to either act younger or act older, while feeling not quite either thing. Some might feel the need to hold on to youth for as long as possible, sticking with their gym regime, and continuing to wear baseball caps and hoodies while obsessing over HAL (A.I.) – because it’s oh-so cool and modern. While others might have simply decided that now might be the time to admit defeat and start acting like their father. Tweeds galore, stiff leather shoes, a slower pace in gait, speech and life in general. The thing is, a man of my age should not be acting. I suppose NO ONE should be acting at any time of life. But we all had the practice in our younger years, when pretending to be cool. I feel, though, that I am perhaps a bit different. I like to think I have a youthful bounce in my personality, yet am definitely of another generation; an earlier one. So, with me, “age” just doesn’t really come into it. While some new advancements still manage to occasionally excite me, I am mainly somewhere else. Or someWHEN else.

I don’t live in a museum. I am not warped in any particular way, to the extent that I “KNOW” I fought in the Boer War. Despite what many think, I do not smoke a pipe, nor spend minutes of every morning perfecting my moustache and polishing my brogues (I have people to do that for me). I am not bewildered by modern life, nor modern people. I am simply more comfortable with a more traditional way of being. Simply put, I like the old days. Nostalgia is my favourite feeling. It just makes sense to me with a plateau of calm. What is most fun is what triggers these feelings. It can be anything. A song, a photograph, a smell, the sky, mama’s apple pie. The feeling of standing still. The screams of Beatlemania. Scars from the bombs of WWII. A nice cup of tea. Smoke elegantly emanating from a distant chimney. Polite manners. Tailoring. Beautiful architecture. When something good happens. An old screenless toy that needs no power, let alone 4 tonne-weight Size-D batteries. Flared trousers. Jigsaw puzzles. Wildlife. Nature. The Mellotron. An old black and white episode of Doctor Who or Danger Man. The voice of Lynsey de Paul. Oh, Lynsey de Paul…

What do you mean, “Who’s Lynsey de Paul?”?! – Well, I don’t blame you. She was absolutely huge in Britain during the 70s, and I had several of her LPs (if not all), courtesy of pater dearest. Lynsey won two Ivor Novello awards (the ultimate songwriter’s award), being the first woman to win one! One song of hers also came second in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest. On top of this, she had 12 top-twenty records. Two things, though. One, she completely disappeared and barely anyone has even heard of her these days. And two, Almost all of these supposedly excellent solo records (aside from the ones she wrote for others artists) were pretty bloody awful. And yet, at least two of her albums were full of fabulous songs – such brilliant songwriting. Basically, I can’t help but feel she was praised for the wrong tunes. And the saddest thing? Only one of those three LPs is actually available to stream or buy, and this has been the case for a long while. I bumped into her in a newsagent once, and can you believe, I asked her why her music was unavailable. What a lovely thing for a fan to say to an artist they admire. God. Anyway!! She didn’t understand what I meant. As far as she was concerned, everything was available everywhere. So I hammered the facts down her throat like any adoring fan might. Her reply? “Well, I am stunned and a little concerned to hear that. I must get on the phone to my agent and see what’s going on. Thank you very much, though, for letting me know”. So, I don’t feel so bad for uttering the unutterable – and what a lovely, affable lady she was too! I don’t know if she ever did make that call. She died five years later, age 66, and still her records are unavailable. It seems nostalgia isn’t all fond, positive vibes. But there’s usually a romance of sorts there.

So, what veered my mind towards dear Lynsey? I’ll tell you. It was this week’s pick! This time, the lady in charge is none other than Jane Marie. I know you all know her. She’s the one who bombs into the New Artist Spotlight Top 20 chart with every track she releases. Yep, THAT one. No, not THAT one; THAT one. Okay, we have many artists who bomb into the charts every time they release anything. That’s just good music and good taste. But I’m talking about young Jane. Young at heart. Eternally bouncy and full of the nerves of a lost adolescent. It has its charm, I must say. Slim and fit, she keeps on with the music. I haven’t spoken about Jane Marie in a little while. It’s been two years, in fact. But that’s not to say she has slumped. Quite the reverse, actually. Since the last time Jane appeared in my Corner, she has released seven singles; each a humdinger. Her brand new track (as always, sung by the brilliant Jessica Mia) is ‘It’s True (Nostalgia)’. So why have I decided to pick this over other recent releases? Well, for a start, one reason I might not pick someone a certain week, could simply be because we have a glut of other artists. But the main reason this one felt close to me was the connection. I FEEL the song and its subject. It’s in the title… Nostalgia. Firstly, I was struck by the song being uncannily as if it had been written by Lynsey de Paul. And perhaps even sung by her. It has the ease, it has the light jazziness, and most importantly, it has those quintessential kooky melodies that framed most of her softer records. However, there wasn’t enough similarity to make this feel like a rip-off or a pastiche. It was just that familiar scent that got me thinking about those “good old days”. I was instantly transported – it’s only ever in a good way.

Which is almost a perfect coincidence, as it’s exactly what this song is all about. Please put on those rose-tinted spectacles, because while the future seems bleak as hell, the past is always peachy. If you think about it, our amalgamated past is what makes us who we are. We’re always told to think in “the now”, but it just isn’t really possible. We can’t ditch a life of history, connections, emotions, circumstances and happenstances. That’s like discarding one’s own soul. Nostalgia is a deeply personal resonance, and yet many of our memories (and “memories” of before we were born) can ring familiar with others. It’s a shared connection, found later in life. It brings us together in fondness and in warmth. So who better to sing these thoughts than Jessica Mia…? Ever since I first heard her voice, I felt like she was another soul who has lived life before her years. There is something ghostly familiar like a close friend you can’t quite put a face to. I think this is why Jane insists on having Jessica (or Jess – I never know which she prefers) as the voice of her music. I can’t really imagine anyone else singing Jane Marie’s songs. It’s a bit like trying to imagine Queen with a different singer. You see, Jane writes personal songs. Usually sad ones. But lately – after various sadnesses in her life – she is seemingly ready to dry those tears and remember the good times. Basically moving from grief to memorial. Jess(ica) seems to just know when to make you weep, and when to show the cheek. It’s a voice of personality.

Arrangement/production-wise, I believe that this is mainly Jane behind it all, but with a little help from a couple of others. The splendid drums are courtesy of Andrea Romaggioli. These drums really drive the song in its lazy meander. It’s like those jazzy brushes are hurrying up the cutest puppy that insists on relentlessly dragging its heels – then it scampers to keep up – you know what I mean. The piano – as always – is Jane, as is the bass. But there is just one other instrument… One that really makes the song, I would have said. Now, there seems to be some sort of discrepancy here… In the credits of ‘It’s True (Nostalgia)’, it states that someone is playing the tenor saxophone. The thing is, I said there was one addition that really makes the song… It ain’t a saxophone. There is no saxophone in this piece. There is a very definite trumpet. It is unmistakable. Then I had a vague memory of another of Jane’s songs having a trumpet in there. CC checks notes… Yep, it’s one of the songs I reviewed (‘It’s Over’). And sure enough, it’s the fabulous Dewi Chilton on both tracks. By now, I think Jane must have the most fabulous little book of musicians and engineers to call upon when needed. And no, you cannot use her contacts. She has worked very hard over the years to build this career of hers. In fact, it’s rather nostalgic to look back upon the years of having known her. To witness her grow and flourish. Who knows, maybe that Ivor Novello award will be winging its way to Jane! In the meantime, she can look back in fondness and pride at what she has accomplished. Jane, you have written yet another beautiful song. No, it’s true!

I must now polish my brogues – it turns out I don’t have people to do that for me.

Listen to 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙚 (𝙉𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙜𝙞𝙖) on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙚 (𝙉𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙜𝙞𝙖) on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Watch 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙚 (𝙉𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙜𝙞𝙖) on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝙅𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝙅𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚 on TwiX HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝙀𝙡 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙚 – 𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙯𝙯𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞

Charles is green with…

Corruption is a funny old thing, isn’t it. Various gangs collude with other gangs… Words that were never said; secret handshakes that never occurred; suitcases of money that never existed before or after switching from one unknown to another. This happens everywhere. Usually with no proof whatsoever. But we know it. So, what’s the purpose? What’s it all for? Is it for the good of man? Well, in a way, yes. One man, usually. It is to fill the deep pockets of the obsessive wanters of more. This is not need. This is not to make sure one’s family doesn’t starve to death. It is simply to add yet another zero to the end of the incalculable number never disclosed. We, the good, honest, kind folk cannot conceive of such a notion, only adding zeros to the beginning and not the end. The good will plant a tree for its peaceful beauty, its shade, and its environmental advantage. But as soon as your back is turned, it’s gone. No conversation, no request, no reason, no explanation. But an envelope lies at the base of your front door. No name, no sender, no markings of any kind. Once opened, it reveals a small wad of cash, and a typed note: “We strongly advise you not to do it again”. Nothing more. We tend to be owned by these people. They have too much power for us to fight back. This clandestine behaviour is more invisible than the Secret Service.

So, how do these dark ogres communicate and conduct their filthy ways…? It’s not what you know, but who you know. This is how it all works: behind closed doors. There is no public paper trail. It’s an efficient, unstoppable ring of meanies who simply couldn’t care less about others. Knowledge is one thing, but without the contacts, there is no knowledge. Corruption is rife all over the world; we know this much. But I don’t think there is a place more corrupt than South America. This entire continent is unofficially the darkest of all. Whether it’s for drugs or gold, or even meat or soy, the Amazon Rainforest is being gutted at an unbelievable rate. Just in the last decade, we have lost 15-20% of it due to deforestation (I hate that this word even exists). And since 1978, we have lost at least one million square kilometres. This is gone, and never coming back. And for what? Is this for housing homeless unfortunates? Is it because nature was posing a threat to mankind? I understand that there has to be a balance of nature and humans in the modern world, but this is NOT what we meant. This is NOT balance. It feels more like sick revenge. This human atrocity is the ground-version of blocking out the sun. The thing is, nature is innocent. It always has been. And not only that, but it helps us. We would not exist without nature. COULD not, even. Our pretty green is pretty brown, now. But all so we can turn one green into another: cold, hard cash.

So far, while basking in the glorious English sunshine (no, seriously, it’s actually sunny here), this article isn’t exactly seeming very Easterly. It’s not Spring-like at all! But I can’t help that. Just like I can’t really do anything about widespread corruption. I CAN, however, talk about music. Some people were born to destroy; others were born to enjoy. I choose joy. And nothing gives me more joy than music. I think you all know that by now. So, in my weekly trawl of new music (aside from the absolutely astounding new album from Raye), I discovered something that was (at least in my own little world) suddenly everywhere. Within the community, on my social media, and on my New Releases page of Apple Music and Spotify, there was a new song by a man who has not released a single thing in three years. His last release being ‘Embracing Change’. Change, being the operative word. In the intervening years, everything in his life changed. He lost his canine friend. He had to move house – twice. His country’s politics changed radically. His love life has been both up and down. But perhaps most importantly, like some of us, he had lost the will to make music. Not the ability, but the drive. The incentive. The motivation. The POINT!! Until recently, he had all but resigned himself to just mixing for other artists, despite being one of the greatest and most talented musicians in the community. But thankfully, he got that pang. And a brand new song was born. Well, sort of brand new, anyway… It was stuck in his womb for quite a while, but we’ll talk about that soon. Please welcome Argentina’s best, Andres Guazzelli!! Was there ever a kinder man…?

You may be wondering how I know all this about Andres. Well, I pay attention. But also I do have the advantage of having insider information. It’s not about what you know, but who you know. Sound familiar…? You see, these two dark ogres communicate in private too. In depth, every so often. For, this is the way with his ADHD, so I gather. It’s all or nothing. A conversational chatterbox one moment, then the next moment he is… well, I couldn’t tell you. I can only suppose “that dog had a fluffy tail” (if you happen to get that reference)… He’s an unusual chap with a story to tell. All the more reason to be telling it in song, surely! I don’t mean “unusual” like when we say “interesting” – ya know: a weirdo. He ain’t a weirdo at all. He’s just different and refreshing. I think what mainly makes him different is his calm, collected nature, with the quiet honesty and reason of a wise man. I’m very fond of him, if you couldn’t already tell. I think one reason is that we often see eye-to-eye about things. I mean, not literally eye-to-eye, as it’s more like eye-to-nipple (he is very tall, and I am very not). But the internet sorts this problem – my little iPhone screen suggests he is only around one inch tall, making me feel quite gangly, I must say. I can’t help but feel like I have deviated ever so slightly from the point… Ah yes, nipples. NO, that wasn’t it. Ah yes: conversat-see-oh-nay. When we chat, we really chat. And don’t worry (readers or Andres), I won’t mention anything that I shouldn’t be mentioning. When someone tells me something in confidence, it’s in confidence. I don’t natter and spread things. Your secret’s safe with me. A friend is a friend.

Shall we talk about this new song of his? Let’s. It’s called ‘El Verde’ (The Green). Although a new song for all of us, it is not technically a new song, but rather something he has wanted out in the open for a while. I was fortunate enough to hear this song back in August of…… 2021!! The very year the lyrics (by Andres and Jack from Arnoldo’s Lizards) were written and the initial recording was made. But the actual song was written back in 2016. That’s a decade ago. A time when we had 15% more of the Amazon Rainforest, as it happens. Speaking of which, that’s sort of what this song is about. Yes, admittedly the lyrics are in Spanish, but Andres was kind enough to translate them for me at the time. They are beautiful, but very sad lyrics indeed. In Andres’ own words, “It’s a conversation between mankind and Mother Earth”.

Here is just a chunk of the lyrics (crudely translated and I’m sure better in Spanish), in English:

In flight I find so many lies in the air
The sun tells me a story while it fades away in tears

“A constant delirium weeps; the forest has been killed
The green we once knew exists no more.”
I heard the moon whisper in the darkness:
“Freedom will come from what you sow.”

My soul bleeds and I wept
They hacked off my wings as well
I feel the dry creeping in.
I rot and sink into the sea

Children of Men, why do you yearn for destruction?
My womb gave birth to the green that walks beside you with every step you take.

And yet, despite being a simple Google translation, isn’t this impressive and powerful stuff? Such pain and emotion. But Andres is the musician, not the writer… True and not true. An artist is a writer. An inventor. And when the art is song, it needs to involve words just as much as music. Andres doesn’t let down one side with the other. But what ABOUT the music itself, then? Well, as we have come to expect from this man, the music is supoyb. The level or standard is very high, and the whole piece is impeccably arranged. I think I’m right in saying that most people don’t quite realise that the main part of “production” is arrangement. That is, which notes are played by which instrument. Very different to the actual writing, and very different to the actual mixing. The instruments are mostly organic instruments played for the recording; the strings and horns being the only “programmed” parts. “Programming”, meaning Andres physically playing a keyboard, triggering live samples. The same goes for the quena – an Andean wooden flute – solo (using his own recorded samples), although the remainder of the quena parts were played physically by Andres himself, as was the percussion (the bombo legüero) and piano. The rest of the instruments were played by his chums: Pablo and Joaquin on classical guitar, Nacho on electric guitar, Mauro on bass, Gonzalo on bandoneón, and Jack and Juli recording 12 tracks of backing vocals. You might think that 12 tracks of backing vocals is quite enough, but Andres thought otherwise, proceeding to record a few more himself. How many more? Oh, just 48. And that’s just BACKING vocals!! Hey, if it’s needed, it’s needed!

As to the actual style of the song, it’s quite interesting. It’s unmistakably Argentinian in sound, but with a difference. I gather that it’s basically a bastardised version of a traditional Argentinian folk dance, called the Chacarera. BUT!! In being Andres, he has very much put his own spin on it. In his own words, “It may be the first progressive Chacarera in history”…! And I wouldn’t be surprised. You see, Andres adores prog (progressive) rock, and it can’t help but seep into his music, no matter the genre. Which I love. It’s what makes his music original and oh-so Andres. He suspects that while South Americans may love it, Argentinians may hate it. I get it – it ain’t kosher. It’s contaminated with exciting newness!

But the star of the show is the voice. I think we all know by now that Andres can sing. But I have NEVER heard him manage THIS!! The expression is off the scale! His range in both directions is effortless. I especially love the way he finishes the more sorrowful lines, like a regretful Freddie Mercury after his lover has been slaughtered in a compulsory bullfight. As if to say, “Well, it had to happen, right?”. Andres’ fast vibrato brings such urgency, demanding our attention. His precision in timing is perfect yet never remotely robotic. Such crisp enunciation with every syllable. There are certain times in the song where you can hear him screw up his eyes as he throttles the air with a clenched fist, almost knocking the cans from his head. It is simply just so impressive. ‘El Verde’ was made for the stage.

Of course, the mixing is exceptional. But this is Andres – of COURSE it is.

There is just SO much to take in, here. Five listens will not be enough to notice and acknowledge even half of it. Therefore, it is the law that you must play it at least ten times.

And if you don’t, you might receive an anonymous letter: “We advise you not to ignore this song” – no wad of cash, though.

Listen to 𝙀𝙡 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙚 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙀𝙡 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙚 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙀𝙡 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙚 on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙯𝙯𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙯𝙯𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞 on TwiX HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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.

𝙎𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧 – 𝘿𝙤𝙣 𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙩𝙚

Charles is designed that way…

Do you find that you seem to be forever fitting things in? Only embiggening the to-do list, rather than ticking things off? While your “Hobbies, Experiences and Dreams” list is in need of some light dusting (if you can even FIND it)…? Ten chores to complete in the time it takes to do six…? Heavy competition from your peers. Constant slog. Never a moment’s rest, or even really any time to do what you WANT to do, rather than what you HAVE to do. The world keeps turning. It’s exhausting. So you eventually go to bed. Or rather, you fall into a large slump when the sky is black and you can no longer stay upright. Barely able to achieve just a few hours’ rest at night, do you then wake up fresh and enthusiastic for a bright new day…? Hardly. Reluctantly, you pull back the bed sheets and do it all over again. A permanent drowse follows you through the room, delayed with every movement. It ain’t human… Yet this is what we are now. Sleepwalkers. The thing is, we ARE human. We simply weren’t built for this way of life. We were not designed for this… Which got me thinking…

Science was designed to make our lives better and longer, not for inventing the atomic bomb. Saltpeter was designed for fireworks, not guns. Telephones were designed for communication, not for isolation. Alcohol was designed for a good time, not to numb the pain. Drugs were designed to cure, not for a good time. Painkillers were designed to numb the pain, not numb the soul. Books were designed to be read, not consumed by machine, then burnt. Wellington boots were designed for purpose, not for fashion. Fashion was designed for aspiration, not for purpose. Cars were designed to transport people, not to plough into people. Knives were designed to cut, not to stab. Guns were designed to kill, not to… okay, fair enough (sadly). The internet was designed to bring us all together, not to turn us against each other. Technology was designed for efficiency, not for time-wasting and human-redundancy. Art was designed for inspiring, refreshing and enhancing the soul, not as a fresh canvas for orange paint. Music was designed for every emotion under the sun, not for artificial streams. Film was designed for immersion, not for passing the time. The countryside was designed for freedom and peace, not for building on. Houses were designed to be lived in, not owned by oligarchs for investment purposes. Stradivarii were designed for playing, not for sitting in a museum. Deer were designed to frolic and roam free, not to be shot. Churches were designed for worship and contemplation, not for converting into unaffordable flats. The Sun was designed for warmth, free energy and free smiles, not for skin cancer. The Moon was designed for sheer beauty, not to be taken for granted. Birthdays were designed for celebration, not nonchalant depression as you notch up another year closer to death (“I’m not dead yet” – that’s the spirit!). Computer fans were designed to cool their processor, not as a hand-warmer. Chainsaws were designed for swiftly removing diseased trees, not for slicing wafer-thin ham – quite the amusing image…

But you know what else seems to have been misunderstood…? Albums. LPs. LPs were designed as a full chunk of time away from everything; a chance to truly immerse oneself in an artist’s creation. I’m talking about proper ALBUM albums. They were NOT designed to be cut up and thrown to the curators for a playlist to devour. One isolated track from a concept album, sandwiched between two other artists’ fully standalone singles, is completely meaningless and simply doesn’t work. A single is a single. And a playlist of a suitably suited genre is the perfect place for it. But when an artist puts out something so important (yes, genuinely important) as a full-length concept album with zero gaps or pauses, no limb should ever be disconnected from its body. It simply can’t function or perform on its own. It will suddenly start out of context, then abruptly stop just as you were starting to feel it. Can you imagine reading a short story, then moving on to chapter seven of a random novel, then finally finishing your meander with another short story…? The short stories work perfectly. That seventh chapter was a disjunct interruption that simultaneously interested and confused, briefly.

And so we come to Don Kyote. A name that despite being written phonetically, always reminds me how I used to pronounce the word from whence it came. It took me years to realise that Quixote (of Don fame) was not pronounced Quick-Sote – which sounded to me like a fast-drying cement, a high-protein muscle-gain product, or a flash-fryer. Surely that’s not CC digressing…? It is, ya know. Don Kyote is not in fact the chivalrous romantic, this time, but instead another man entirely. And there’s a high chance you might have heard of him. Mr. Braddon Williams…? Ring a bell? Well, it should. Alongside myself and Andres Guazzelli, Braddon has mixed many pieces for many artists in the community. The question is, “Is he any good?”… p-HAH!! Yes. In a word, yes. He used to be an official mixing engineer for Sony, working with artists such as Mark Ronson, Beyoncé, Billy Joel, The Script and many more. No, I’m not kidding. So yes, he is indeed good, to say the least. But aside from his known expertise in mixing, he is also a producer and an artist in his own right (like most of us engineers). And it is THIS side of things that I would like to focus on. Rather embarrassingly, I have never reviewed young Braddon before. He has always released such brilliant work under a couple of guises. One, being his rock band called Prototype One, with an LP (‘Home’) released in 2022. But it seems these days he seems to have quietly settled behind the mask of Don Kyote.

So, why have I never reviewed Braddon Williams? Mainly because of that simple thing called taste. The talent was ALWAYS very evident. But the writing from Prototype One never quite warmed my cockles. As to Don Kyote’s initial couple of albums – ‘Scatterbrain’ (2023) and ‘Transmogrification’ (2025) – it was simply above me. Jazzier than a mother. In awe of his talent, I just couldn’t connect. Although loving a lot of jazz, I have never really been “a jazzer” (except for a brief migraine in around 2004). Then something happened around 10 days ago. This brave lothario (Braddon Quick-Sote) released something entirely new. A whole side of him I hadn’t heard before. Along strides – sorry: Along mooches ‘Sleepwalker’. Or, what I believe to be his greatest work yet. Something worthy of so much more than this article. THIS is the feature-length concept album of which I was speaking. The one that would be sacrilege for Edward Scissorhands to go anywhere near. Scissors are designed for running with, not for cutting. The LP is NOT for playlisting. Actually, correction, I discovered it by listening to the community’s playlists. So, it IS for playlisting, but only for use as an advert for the complete production. Think of its appearance on a playlist like a film trailer rather than the product itself. My worry is that most listeners are not so pro-active (hate the word) as I, when it comes to music. Whenever I hear a track I love, my thumbs lead me to the album (if it is from an album). It killed me to cut up my own debut (and only) album for playlists, but it was frankly the only way I could get each and every part heard. I didn’t really think of it as a collection of 14 tracks, but more a piece in 14 parts. I initially wrote and produced the whole thing in order, in one project, before cutting it up for mixing (and for my old computer’s wellbeing). So I very much understand Braddon’s potential frustration in having to split things up for playlists. Once I had heard just one track from ‘Sleepwalker’, though, there was no doubting that this was only one small fraction of something not only bigger, but greater.

As to the actual concept of this album, I searched and searched for information on it. I found absolutely nothing. Which is, by the way, the reason this was not reviewed last week. I knew it needed a great deal of research before the actual writing part. Gutted, and despite my attempts, I can give you nothing but the record. CC failed. Each track takes place in a different time and city in the world. We cover Melbourne, Paris, Christchurch, Geneva, Prague, Bangkok, Amsterdam, New York, Sydney, Edinburgh, Istanbul, Madrid, Florence, London, Cape Town, Seoul, Toronto, Cairo, Tokyo, Los Angleles, Honolulu, and finally back home to Hong Kong (that’s where he resides these days). I know, 22 tracks sounds like far too much to sit down with, but remember, this is designed for one sitting, not to ruin your schedule. It only runs to 37 minutes. Hence why one isolated track is wholly unsatisfying, no matter how brilliant it might be. At this juncture, I might now let you in on the genre. It ain’t jazz. It ain’t rock. It certainly ain’t electronic. It’s classical. And very filmic indeed. I actually assumed that ‘Sleepwalker’ was the soundtrack to a documentary, but as far as I can tell it is simply a musical release. I said, my research led me nowhere. So I simply listened. Throughout the writing of this entire article, I have been listening to the LP on repeat. I have let it wash over me. I never listen and write simultaneously. Normally, I simply can’t. “Just like a man”. I think the lack of words was what made me able to write and listen simultaneously. And aside from listening, it is such an immersive, satisfying thing to have playing. Every so often, I would be curious as to which city the music was supposed to be portraying. I assume this is the idea, anyway. I found this most interesting and a little bit fascinating. But I must say, I certainly do NOT want to go to Los Angeles after having heard his musical interpretation of the city. The only musical relative I can hear is Amaury Laurent Bernier when in his soundtrack mode(‘Totem‘, for example), as opposed to when he is free from constraints (‘Polaroid Revolt’). Amaury is the greatest film composer I personally know, so this comparison is certainly a compliment to Braddon. Classical music is more than a genre; it’s another world. As is jazz. It’s not something you can quickly pick up and “get’ within a few weeks. It’s like learning a new language. It doesn’t just mean you stick some strings in it and call it classical. Braddon seemingly just KNOWS what to do and when to do it. For me, he easily eclipses Ludovico Einaudi and modern day Max Richter (he used to be great), who both frankly bore me to frowns. There is nothing more I can say about ’Sleepwalker’ because it’s much better heard through ears.

Contrary to my first paragraph, some things just take time. Some things are not designed to be rushed. My old manager used to say this about our breaks: “best get it over with”… A break is to be relished!! As is an LP. Find time in your hectic schedule to listen to this feature-length release. Nay: MAKE time. Embiggen that list by one. You’ll thank me in the end. Nay: you’ll thank our courageous romantic, Brad-Don; the fast drying, muscle-bearing flash fryer. Much better than a wet muscle-baring fly-flasher.

I need one thing from you readers before I go. For one week, the entire LP will be at the top of my Connolly’s Corner playlist – almost unheard of! Once the week is over, I will be keeping just one track. Let me know in the comments which city’s track you think I should keep, and why. Whichever city has the most votes will remain. I will only consider votes in the comments below the article, NOT on social media. And yes, I know; I am being Edward Scissorhands in keeping just one, but ya know. It was designed this way. “Oh CC, cut it out!”

Listen to 𝙎𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙎𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧 on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙎𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧 on YouTube HERE!

Follow 𝘿𝙤𝙣 𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙩𝙚 on Instagram HERE!

Follow 𝘿𝙤𝙣 𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙩𝙚 on TwiX HERE!

Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below