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.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 – 𝘾𝙚𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙤𝙣, 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙇𝙚𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙨𝙤𝙣

Charles is mad for it…

What’s been the biggest news in Britain in the last week? Ukraine trucking on like troopers? Hamas doing what terrorists do best? Perhaps it’s the ever-growing bullet-pointed list of national destruction updated daily by Keir Starmer? Maybe the Paralympics…? No no; unlike the Olympics, the Paralympics rarely gets any news coverage. Well, it must be that Germany is – as the news outlets are less than subtly attempting to lead us to believe – about to “go all Nazi on yo ass”…! How about Trump, Harris, Harris, Trump, Trump, Harris? Mm. Meh. Nope. It wasn’t any of these. I’ll give you a clue. It was music related. “Oh no, has some mega rock legend died, and I didn’t know about it??” – nope, no one major has died. “Oh phew. Oh, you don’t mean…” – I do. While this has been world news (amazingly), Britain has seemingly had a delirious little fling with the relatively recent past. If you had read the English Press this past week, you might be forgiven for thinking that each and every one of the 68 million people in Britain was foaming at the mouth with the news of Oasis reuniting for a few gigs. This comes after many quotes from Noel Gallagher in recent years, stating he would never EVER get back with his brother and the band. The news also comes the very year after his £20 million divorce… Hmmm… Not suspicious at all. How is he possibly expected to survive on the remnants of his meagre fortune (apparently a mere £30 million left)…? Well, to Liam’s delight, Noel caved and reluctantly chose to accept the idea of Oasis making a purported total of around £50 million from these 2025 shows. We can’t have poor little Noel barefoot in the street, busking in Leicester Square. I’m not sure anyone would notice him: there’s always someone there playing Wonderwall.

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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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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.

𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙩 – 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙇𝙚𝙚

Charles doth oft prove a prophet…

“To be, or not to be, that is the question”. Or rather, that is A question. A question into which I will briefly delve later on. To the world, William Shakespeare was a bard. To the English, he is The Bard. That is actually how we refer to him – should we refer to him at all (young Shakespeare is less in the modern narrative than when EYE was young). I know ‘English’ is a dirty word these days, but so far Shakespeare has been left unscathed by the modern obsession of screwing up the only good we have left from the past. He has not yet to have been found a slave driver, nor a hater of any race or gender. And nor was he a snob or a tycoon. Sure, he was apparently vain and pennily comfortable, but that is RIGHT! We are still allowed to mention him, talk about him, discuss and debate his work, without some whistleblower storming through the window with a tin of paint and a sign to spoil all the innocent fun and joy he has brought us all for just SO long. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re reacting much as I would if I were to be accosted and threatened by a tribesman: “Don’t shake spear at me!” – well, tough. I am going to shake that spear whether you like it or not. Because, as long ago as his writing was, his greatest and most famous moments of inspiration are as potent as ever.

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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.

𝙍𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 – 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙡𝙨

Charles adds a little seasoning…

Think back not too long ago. That never-ending, heavy, lethargic summer. The relentless heat. The endless blue sky. The golden tan no longer a novelty; it’s a permanent ultraviolet stain. The trees all lush green with envy as they watch you sip your ice cold drink of choice. You’re slow. You’re tired. You’re raw. You’re just too exposed to the elements, and it’s been too long. “Pray for rain!”, we all cry! Pray for rain. But the next day, not a drop. Nothing but blissful blue. Nothing but scorching sun. Nothing but pure “paradise”… There is no hideaway in which to hide away. You wear too much, you overheat. You wear too little, you burn. You crave the days of change. The days where sweat is a sign of hard work, not simply of being. You wish for the leaves to come down to earth in hues of orange, of yellow and of red. You wish for a cool breeze not articulated by a rotating blade. You wish for a cloud, if only to break the monotony of blue perfection. You wish, you wish, you wish. But in reality, you wait, you wait, you wait.

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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.

𝙍𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙗𝙤𝙬 – 𝙈𝙖𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙣

Charles finds a treasure map…

It is the beginning of July. Do you know what this means? It means we are truly in the thick of Summer. Well, for those in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway. In Britain though, we have a different way of looking at it. It’s very much the thin of it. We tend to look at Summer like a dream. Like, “one day I’ll be rich”. Like this impossibility for which we are eternally hopeful. An impossibility that is not only possible but highly likely in other parts of the world. I don’t mean a wealth of pennies. I mean a wealth of sunshine and of heat. In many parts of America, people right now are simply too dehydrated to bother with a rain dance. Besides, it would be a futile endeavour. The clouds are too busy migrating to Britain in small boats. It’s apparently where they belong. Italy though, as usual, has it just right: perfect clockwork weather. In Italy, Summer means Summer. In Britain, Summer is a bit like the Euros. We hope and hope some more. A few days of sunshine is like England winning the football on Sunday: enjoy it while it lasts. That could be it. We always hope we’ll get a proper European Summer. We always hope to win a major football tournament. And although the outcome is rarely terrible, we’re never left satisfied. This is the English way. Mustn’t grumble, but must mutter under our breath. Last week was Summer. This week? It’s all right. The usual meh. But still, we keep on hoping, in search of this mythical utopian season. If only we had a map of Summer.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙂𝙪𝙮 – 𝙀𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙢𝙞 𝙃𝙖𝙯𝙚

Charles is “that guy”…

“PWhat’s up, everybody?? IT’S ya boy CC, BACK with another episode of Connolly’s Corner. YO favourite place for news, reviews and ALL the latest goings-on-in-the-world-of-unsigned-music. And toDAY we’ve got something real special for ya. THIS time, it’s…” …Wait. This isn’t me. This isn’t me at all. This is everyone else. This isn’t how I do things. This is how everyone else does things. I don’t say “everybody”. I say “everyone”. I don’t copy people. I ain’t afraid to be me. I ain’t afraid of no ghost. By now, you probably know me well enough. You probably think you know me well enough. I’m that guy. That one with the quill. That one boring the hell out of you, week in, week out. That one with the headphones permanently stapled to his ears. That one listening to absolutely everything all of the time, to the extent that everything in life becomes musical. That clink of the teaspoon against the rim of a coffee cup. That ding of the microwave. The tempo of that nearby car alarm that just won’t shut up. That vitamin B pill that could easily double as a shaker if I only had a microphone sensitive enough to capture it. I hear everything. I hear it all too well, and too much. The slightest noise in the middle of the night wakes me with such sudden aggression. My life is attuned to sound. I don’t have perfect pitch, and neither do I have perfect hearing – few do. But still, sound really is my everything. I’m that guy. That guy you’re so eager to please, if you’ve heard of me, because then I might review your latest masterpiece. But you know I am keen on honesty. You just KNOW that. In fact, I detest lying. And you KNOW I also like praise and being liked. Genuine praise. I am human, and I am an artist. So what if you don’t like me? What if I’m NOT your bestest buddy in the world? What if I irritate you to the ends of the Earth with my words and my face? What if being honest and being nice are in conflict with one another? You’d have to choose. Or say nothing. There is always tact, but I can usually see through that. At least you’ve tried. Top marks for trying! Noted. I’m not a judge. I’m not a teacher you have to suck up to. I’m just that guy. That guy who’s always listening.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼 𝙋𝙡𝙪𝙨 – 𝘾𝙤𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙤𝙬𝙣

Charles leaves the city for a higher grade…

Cities are impressive. Cities are huge and buzzy. It can sometimes seem like a big city would be able to continue living without the presence of actual life! The buildings, the museums, the galleries, the parks, the clubs, the architecture (you’ve said that, you said buildings. Yes, all right, clever clogs). The heights and grandeur, the world famous stature. The hub of where it all happens. It’s all so compelling. Genuinely exciting! But sometimes it can feel a little overbearing. Would you like to eat a 7 course meal in a swanky restaurant every single day of your life? To me, this is what it can sometimes feel like. Oftentimes (utterly LOATHE this word) one just wants to live a smaller life. A simpler life. To eat a burger while ambling the littler side of the street. Where your thoughts are allowed to wander without getting distracted by awe-inspiring structures (same as buildings, same as architecture. Yes, all right, clever clogs). Say, by the sea? Imagine a little town where the atmosphere is not cloaked in pollution, but simply a sea breeze. A coastal town.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙂𝙤𝙣𝙚 – 𝙎𝙪𝙣 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙

Charles considers a live worth living…

Over the months and years I seem to have forgotten about a very important aspect of music… Yes, I am actually going to be talking about music. You see, every week I go on about technical terms that most of you wouldn’t be able to understand; like “punch”, “oomph” and “POW”. But I must learn to realise that we can’t all be muso audiophiles like me (oh please, it’s a yoke). I speak of melody and harmony and how things fit together (another technical term). I speak of technique and musical judgement. I speak of recording quality and mixing knowledge. I speak of panning and even occasionally specific frequencies. I speak of reverb and delays and all sorts of other magical wonders that make a good thing better. I speak of the way a guitarist digs in to the guitar. I speak of how a trumpet will portray the saddest of moods within the breaths between the notes. I even pick up on the “mistakes” that MAKE the song; the perfection in imperfection. I go into how the artist has honed their sound, delving and diving into the depths of each individual note and made it as good as it can possibly be. I speak of sparkle and clarity. I speak of bass that vibrates so ferociously it makes my nose tickle. But all in all, I am listening intently. I am in the process of analysis. I am rarely taking a step back. Maybe even several steps back. You see, each release is a static recording. I am able to go back to lines I didn’t quite catch, or mentally zoom in on that crash cymbal choke and marvel at its harmonics. I can play it again and again, getting to know each vocal flick (another technical term) and drumstick drop (more technical terms, of course – when the drummer drops his stick, for those not so wordily endowed). It is the familiarity and unchanged sound that is warming and close to our hearts. It is this that makes a classic, a classic.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 – 𝘽𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙇𝙤𝙬𝙧𝙮

Charles talks about tomorrow…

There is something I have always found mildly fascinating, ever since I was young. I mean, even younger. It involves the passing of time, and the way we regiment said passing of time. A birthday, for example. It is a day for celebration. But we have decided this. It is not actually the actual day of one’s actual birth. It is to commemorate x-amount of years since one’s birth. But what is a year? We split life into years, yet this is a human invention. God did not place years on our table. Neither did God invent the table (but its simple perfection leads me to wonder). Sure, the seasons make the idea of years a little easier to digest and swallow, but what if we go further into months… Why 12? Why does January start in, well, January? And what about weeks and even days? Why is Sunday the so-called day of rest? I say “so-called” because on Sunday I had to do a full day’s work alongside constant power tools across the road that only stopped shortly before 7pm. Day of rest, my FOOT!! This fictional birthday I spoke of before, it is technically just another day. Just like New Year’s Day. It is technically just another day. With a “day” only being made official by the sun going up and down like a slow-motion yoyo.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 – 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙗𝙚𝙣

Charles theorises…

What is music? “Wait, wait, wait a sec… You’re actually going to talk about music??” – I know. You’d think I’d be sick of music by now. But no, I ain’t the blasphemous kind. “But you NEVER talk about music in your intros.” – Yes, I know, I usually write about something like ”How to overcome the pressures of the world”, or “What came first, the chicken or the duck?”, or “Have you noticed the increasing presence of the hip flask lately?”… But this time I thought I’d go all out and speak about music. It is, after all, the time and the place. So. Back to my initial question… What IS music? This is something about which people will argue forever. But I’m not going to go into avant-garde nonsense that in my eyes (ears) is simply not worth bothering with. I am talking about REAL music. Ya know, instruments and all that. Something that doesn’t make one scratch one’s head, and something that one actually enjoys, as opposed to reluctantly putting oneself through, for the sake of being kind to the “artist” or in an attempt to broaden one’s horizons. One’s horizon is probably quite big enough, and does not need broadening. So you’ve got your instruments, be them analog or electronic. You’ve got yourself a singer. Bravo! That’s basically done, right? Well, you’ll need a place and a means to record. Okay then, CHECK! Got all of the above. Hit record, we’re ready! “Okay guys, what’s the name of the song?”, the engineer says through the studio’s intercom.

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