What freedom means on “Cheap Wine (And Expensive Conversation)” by Jon Foreman and Abby Holliday
The introduction to “Cheap Wine (And Expensive Conversation)” comes from what sounds like a couple of ukuleles with inaudible whispered conversations behind them. Jon Foreman sings a line, and then Abby Holliday sings one, and they carry on one after the other until the chorus. Foreman’s voice has lilt of an accent and almost a […]
Coldplay Go Large (Again) With “feelslikeimfallinginlove”
How do you feel about Coldplay? It’s a question that has become similar to discussing political leanings. It can split friendships and start angry discussions one way or the other. I don’t quite understand why. Sure, by anyone’s standards, Coldplay are a huge band and yet they come across as ordinary, everyday people. With the […]
Holly Humberstone Works Through Something on “Cocoon”
Holly Humberstone released the album Paint My Bedroom Black in 2023 which contained the track “Cocoon.”, and now she has released a new version of that song in collaboration with Medium Build. The original version is a lively, fully produced affair that kicks in with a relentless beat from very early on. The new version […]
Hovvdy Embrace the Power of Singing on “Make Ya Proud”
How do you harness the power of song? Hovvdy, the quirkily spelt duo from Austin, Texas, do it by jumping right in with a cymbal splash and luscious piano chords over a bare drum beat, somehow managing to get those chords to pull out all sorts of powerful emotions from me as they start to […]
Mistakes Are Okay On Everything But The Girl’s “When You Mess Up”
Tracey Thorn has one of the most beautiful voices in pop. She sings with Everything But The Girl less frequently these days, and with an even more evocative sound than before. But the sudden appearance of 2023’s album Fuse was worth the wait. The band left their jazzy, acoustic beginnings to experiment a little more […]
Nostalgia Wins the Day on “So Sick Of Dreaming” by Maggie Rogers
The moment “So Sick Of Dreaming” starts, it whisks me back to a warm-coloured, fuzzy-photographed version of the 70s. The dreamy electric guitar, slightly washed with a chorus effect, pairs with Maggie’s close, clear, dry vocals to make the song feel like an old classic. And if that wasn’t classic enough… well, this song is […]
Jason Wozniak Floats Dreamily on “It’s All The Same”
The power that music has to move you is phenomenal. It seems to physically make a part of your brain go from one place to another – in this case happy to melancholy, simple acceptance to complicated doubt, light to shade, sun to clouds. That’s what Jason Wozniak’s “It’s All The Same” does to me. […]
Elbow Create a Monster Called “Balu”
Elbow (and lead singer Guy Garvey particularly) are a sort of underground national treasure in the United Kingdom. They play shows for royalty, but they appear to be the kind of band you’d want to spend the afternoon in the pub with. Garvey himself presents a popular and very enjoyable regular radio show. But his […]
Fleetwood Mac’s Secret Weapon Strikes Again on “You Make Loving Fun”
One of the well-documented wonders of Fleetwood Mac’s seminal album Rumours is how all the members of the band managed to devote themselves to making the best music they possibly could whilst simultaneously ripping each other apart emotionally. Some of the songs on the album understandably have bitter, heartbroken, or regret-laden lyrical content. But one […]
Tiny Habits Show the Beauty in Transition with “Mudroom”
There’s a nice picked acoustic guitar. There’s the passing slide of an electric. And then there’s the most beautiful, resonant voice singing about porch swings and backyards. This is “Mudroom” by Tiny Habits. They are Maya Rae, Cinya Khan, and Judah Mayowa and they all sing a verse on this thrilling and meditative new song. […]
