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.

𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙄𝙨 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙏𝙤𝙤 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨! – 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙡 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙮 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩

Charles finds his soul…

Every ten years a decade passes. Every decade brings change. Some decades more than others. Good change, bad change and arguable change, but change nevertheless. While there are many different kinds of change, I will not focus on forced change, such as war, for war is not worth talking about. I prefer the lighter side of life. So… In the last century, which decade has brought the most change? Again, excluding those where war has been the changing factor. I can only really talk about the Western World here, as that is all I am really familiar with. Which has been the most changing decade? Some might say the noughties (00s) due to the rise of the internet. It certainly did change the world; there’s no doubt in that. Some would say the 60s because, THE SIXTIES!! I mean, just EVERYTHING changed, right? Well I can’t argue that it was a revolutionary decade. But more so for the young. The older ones were still living part two of the 50s. How about the 80s, then? With its big hair and technological advancements? Well it certainly wasn’t like anything before. And then there’s the 20s. These 20s, rather than those 20s. The 2020s. The now. BIG change. The problem is, it feels like all this current change is negative change. Which, like war, is not worth talking about. For me, the answer is…….. The 70s. The change didn’t feel as forced or rebellious as the 60s. The change didn’t affect just the young. And seemingly pretty much every aspect changed, almost by the year.

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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.

𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 – 𝘾𝙚𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙤𝙣, 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙇𝙚𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙨𝙤𝙣

Charles casts a spell…

It’s a new dawn; it’s a new day; it’s a new life for me… And I’m feeling good. Hopefully your bodies and minds have recovered from the copious amounts of shandy booze, and I trust your ears have stopped ringing from the relentless colourful cannon fire. Some of you might have been saddened or even offended by having not received a New Year message from me. Even in the public chats, I was completely absent. But then again, most of you probably couldn’t give a monkey’s. Quite right. For those of you who have nothing better to do than to frown and weep and mourn the lack of a review for an entire week, have no fear: CC is here! Do not worry your pretty little head. I was simply saving that message for this here public broadcast. I have also been truly enjoying life without screen. There’s a whole world out there, ya know…! What did YOU all do between the festives (24th/25th) and the bing-bangs (31st/1st)? Did you read that book you were given for Christmas? Did you drink yourself into oblivion? Did you resent having to work between the two significant dates? Perhaps you just pigged out while listening to whatever Spotify told you to listen to? Well my favourite day was so simplistic it might even barely bear mentioning. But it is so often the simple things in life that we cherish the most. It was December 30th. I was heavily hungover from the night before – don’t ask. Feeling groggy can be awful, but it can also make you feel cosy at home. Like a yawning puppy. I knew I wasn’t going to get any work done. How could I possibly judge the balance of audio when I couldn’t even remember to put on trousers… Think of it as a duvet day. Yes, I know this is starting to sound like a teenage girl’s slumber party, but I assure you it wasn’t. My girlfriend and I did a jigsaw puzzle from start to finish, while listening to music. It was as simple as that. And a highlight of the music was Kaminski’s album from 2022 (no longer “last year”). We both had such a special time despite there being pretty much nothing to it. I suppose this is what love is all about. It is the magic of it. How something so simple can be so special.

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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.

𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 – 𝙏𝙤𝙙𝙙 & 𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣

Charles stares at the sun…

The wait is over. It finally happened. We hoped, we prayed. We were ready for disappointment. But we always quietly had our fingers crossed. What it is is, Summer. England is not known for sun. Not to foreigners. It is known for miserable rain (as opposed to lighthearted upbeat rain), despite not really having that much rain these days. Well, of course I speak only of London, for that is all I know. I’m sure up north is as grim as ever. But then again, maybe I’m doing what the foreigners do. Assuming, due to what people say. Maybe I’m wrong. Let’s check. Today in London it’s sunny and 26 degrees. Huh! Turns out it’s exactly the same up north! So there ya go. Completely wrong, due to my assumption, based on very little. What’s that sound…? Sounds like a chuckle… It seems to be coming from the southern states of the Ewe Ess of Aye. Now look, I know 26 degrees is not a great deal to you lot – positively chilly, no doubt! But we in mainland Europe don’t live on the edge of a desert (or even indeed in the middle of one). Besides, it did reach 30 over the weekend in London. Which was enough to make me feel very heavy indeed. But good lord, I enjoyed it. We Britonians never know what we’re going to get. Could be chilly and wet and windy. Could be dangerously high temperatures with sun so strong it looks more like Arizona than Hyde Park. Grass bleached to dust. But despite all the worry and concern over climate change, we English always hope to get burnt fast. It is terribly childish and incredibly unsophisticated (not to mention downright stupid), I will admit. But it is the English way. Quick! Sun’s out! Flip-flops at the ready! Let that proud belly hang, flop and wobble to the beat of one’s own personal step. I’m too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, too sexy it hurts. I mean, it HURTS! It is painful to look at. But, this is the nature of these people. To get toasted, and not give a tan about what others will have to look at. One might say they are blinded by the sun… I’m not really selling the place, am I… The good thing is, God invented sunglasses. And if you get ones dark enough (you know, those ones more suitable for viewing a rare solar eclipse) you won’t have to see all this ghastly stuff. Then you can concentrate on your OWN tan (and on not walking into lampposts or passing cars – no matter how amusing this might be to the other bellies).

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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.

𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙝𝙖̃ 𝘿𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙖 – 𝙅𝙤𝙖𝙤 𝘼𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙝𝙖

Charles is just being nice…

I’m a bad man. Rotten to the core. Cruel and sadistic. Horrid horrid horrid. This is what everyone says about me. Okay. This is not what everyone says about me. At least, not to my face anyway. Then why say it here? Because sometimes we have thoughts. Irrational thoughts. Absurd and fictional thoughts, based on absolutely nothing. It was also a punchy way of starting the article. Ahem. Negative thoughts of oneself can easily creep in when surrounded by negative, bad and ugly. Take last week’s article, for example. I decided not to comply. I decided not to embrace a thing called HAL. I decided not to see the potential positive effect of it on art. While I won’t be changing my stance any time soon, this negativity can lead to heavier things. If one sees only doom and gloom, one feels only doom and gloom. And it is easy to slide down the slippery slope of “I’m no good”. These days, I would have said my thoughts and views are pretty balanced. Also, these days I think I’m pretty comfortable with who I am, and what I’m like. Am I bad? Am I mean? Am I cruel? Am I dishonest? Am I a criminal? No. Am I perfect? Pahahaha! No. Very far from it. While being in a generally healthy state of mind, I could always be better. We all could. But I’d just like to give the good guys a pat on the back for being so good. While we could all be better, just think how much worse we could be? All those liars and fakers and cheaters out there. We could be like that. We could be going around, spitting on grannies and tripping up children. I saw you, laughing at the idea of the kid falling over. I chuckled too. Because it’s funny. Okay, the kid isn’t laughing, but we mustn’t lose our sense of humour. Stifle that natural laughter, then help the kid up. For most of us, good enough, is good enough. Don’t try to be a positive drone. If it ain’t natural, it ain’t natural.

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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.

𝙉𝙤 𝙋𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨 – 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣

Charles thinks of others this Christmas…

So! I thought I’d break with tradition. Which is very unlike me. Next Tuesday is Christmas Eve, and I will not be posting any reviews over the festive period. This gives me time to enjoy the festivities. But more importantly, it gives YOU time to do the same. I don’t want to spoil that for anyone by giving you the chore of reading whatever I might have chosen to natter about. What this means is, this is my last review of 2024. So far, this is no break from tradition. I always pause for a week or two over this season – remember, I’ve been doing these reviews since 2020…! Every year I make a point of writing a fun festive review just before Christmas. Here’s where the break with tradition comes in to play. There will be no holly, no tinsel, no elves, no glitter, no glamour, no baubles, no Santa, no reds, no whites, and no pinks. But plenty of blues. You see, the meaning of Christmas has changed over the years. It has become strangely sterile and commercial. We hunker down to a cosy time with the family, if possible. It was never supposed to be a time of gluttony and of excess. It was supposed to be a time of celebration in being grateful for what we have. A time to think about those less fortunate. Those who cannot revel in said festivities. Those going through the toughest of times. As the Christmas carol goes: In the Bleak Midwinter…

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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.

𝙉𝙤 𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 – 𝙆𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙠𝙞

Charles is the cat with one eye open…

Let’s clear this up, once and for all. Last week’s review. I received a barrage of messages, comments and posts about it, from the people who didn’t quite understand. I was informed that I had linked to the wrong song multiple times. That no matter how much they searched, they couldn’t find the song “Polar Foil”… On the flip-side, I had people telling me how much they liked the song… Lord knows how they heard it… Despite most of these confused people realising it was posted on April 1st, it still didn’t quite click for some. Every single part of the article was made up. There is no such song as Polar Foil. There is no such Amazon product as Polar Foil. There is no block of ice that melts in the form of a cold hourglass. Both Polar Foil and Lila Proof are anagrams of April Fool. And Lila’s single released next month was called Yam because it’s an anagram of May (next month’s month). The cat’s out of the bag. Some of you may think it a shame that I have now “explained the joke”. I know one artist who REALLY can’t stand that. But I thought it necessary for those who felt perhaps uncomfortably incomplete, or “left out of the loop”. The thing is, this was entirely my own imagination. A vivid imagination that is so natural to me that I almost started believing it. In fact, there were times when I truly forgot, and went to my phone to listen to ”again” to the track – quickly remembering (rather embarrassingly) that it never existed. I gather many of you were also a little let down as you really wanted to listen to it. It sounded like it might have been amazing, I admit. The thing is, you can still do this. Close your eyes and do what I did. Imagine. Make the piece of music in your head, based on what you’ve read. Imagination is an incredible thing. And I do believe that if your mind is free from worry, and if you allow yourself, imagination is literally limitless. It’s a conscious dream.

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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.

𝙉𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙣’ .2 – 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙞, 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨

Charles shows good sportsmanship.

A couple of days ago, there was a game of football. Or soccer, if you prefer. One team wearing white, the other, blue. I rooted for white. Sometimes, things just don’t go to plan. They did however for the blues. I am not a football fan, but this was one of the few times when an Englishman is allowed to be patriotic. It is seen as okay. The way to be. The thing to do. The hopes were high, but eventually, after much sweaty tension, the feeling was low. A big shame. But someone has to win, and someone has to, well, come second. It has always been the way. 22 men fought like brave soldiers; courageous yet civil and respectful. My only real CONCERN about England coming in ‘second place’, was the possible aftermath. English football fans have something of a reputation for acting, shall we say, a little less gentlemanly than they maybe should. Which is why I am of the opinion that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join em’”. Not the fans, but the winners. Let’s all come together and celebrate a joyous occasion. Not as joyous as one would have hoped, of course, but let’s simply take part in the festivities and good vibes, rather than turning the good vibes to bad. Let us enjoy and revel in the good times we’ve had over the weeks, and just understand that the result of a game of football must not be taken as a personal attack, but simply an outcome that had to go either way.

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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.

𝙎𝙣𝙖𝙠𝙚 – 𝙆𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙣, 12 𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙬

Charles is instrumentally deceptive…

The song is called Snake. So therefore I’m going to write my little intro on snakes. But of course. The way they slither. The way they slide and worm across just anything. Those scales reflecting light at every angle. That warning tongue that rasps with knowing arrogance. A snake is scared of nothing. It is cold blooded in all ways. And while this image of a snake in movement may make most shudder, there are people who are almost turned on by it. To the extent that they start to take on the dark characteristic of this quick-witted reptile. This type of person can be referred to as a snake. A person that lies and deceives, only for their own selfish gain. In fact, I have changed my mind. This kind of person is so off-putting to me, that I would rather not give them this attention, for they deserve none. So, in fact, I will NOT be talking about snakes. But of course NOT. Apologies to those who were just starting to get into it. Sorry to deceive – what a snake-like thing to do!

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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.

𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 (𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙨) – 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣

Charles presses play…

No words.

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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.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 – 𝙂𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙝𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙩

Charles goes to church…

For someone so irreligious as I, God and his troves do make quite a number of appearances in my articles. Please do not forsake me oh Lord, for not conforming to your scriptures, but I give thanks for leading me to my own weekly scriptures. Or some such rubbish. Let’s face it, there is something very satisfying and wholesome about this way of speaking. A church remains largely unaltered by the modern world, with the exception of a card reader in place of a donation box. Even the almighty Lord himself is not impervious to contactless payment… On/Off topic, when at the Roman Baths in Bath the other week, I did chuckle at the sign which read “Do not throw coins into the water, please instead use the contactless donation device located to your right” – completely missing the point of throwing coins into fountains and the like. As if to say that places without such modern payment methods would have dedicated evening staff fishing the pennies out of the water, in order to pay for that leaky roof. It gives a different meaning to Sinatra singing about “three coins in the fountain”… I would imagine the same goes for the “Love Locks” on countless bridges and railings all over the world – they are simply donating padlocks to the nation. That must be the reason. Now if only they supplied the key as well, then we’d all be secure. God almighty, I forgot what we were talking about! Oh yes: God Almighty. Aside from the beauty and romance of it all, even non-believers will turn to it for another reason. Desperation. When almost all hope is lost, one cries for help.

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