Ben Brookes - The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon (2017)

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Written by Raymond Burris, posted by blog admin

The release The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon from Ben Brookes might sport a relatively unwieldy title, but there’s not an ounce of fat on even one of the songs and Brookes’ vocal performance is one of the overall best on a studio recording in the last two decades. His songwriting skills are equally strong both musically and lyrically – Brookes’ words often reveal more than they say and listeners can glean his meaning from much the material while still being able to walk away with meanings of their own. Producer and former Badfinger member Mark Healey shepherds these songs in such a way that the sonic blueprint brings out the best in each one and certainly invests his voice with warmth and enough edge to captivate any listener. Another former Badfinger member Joey Molland makes significant musical contributions to the release and he’s joined by equally important contributors’ keyboardist Greg Inhofer and drummer Michael Bland.

The subtle light and shade personifying much of his songwriting mood finds its earliest expression with the opener “I Wanna Go Home”. Much of The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon is defined by acoustic guitars mixed with a dollop of lead electric guitar added for good measure and come off sometimes as slightly super charged folk rock numbers. Other times they recall Brookes’ obvious influences like The Beatles and some not so quite obvious influences like Cat Stevens’ work from his prime years. The opener falls into the second of those two types and has a distinct English presence all the more marvelously considering the album was, essentially, brought to life in a midwestern American studio. Other effective tunes in the acoustic vein are the lyrical wide-lens on “Integration (Not Segregation)”, “Asleep in Galilee”, and “Before Sunlight”. The final two of the aforementioned trio are among the finest moments on the album and will likely hold a place in any set list he performs for the rest of his career. The last track, “Before Sunlight”, is an especially stunning tune thanks to its powerful vocal melody and the resulting performance from Brookes, but “Asleep in Galilee” has inexorable internal movement that will enchant a number of listeners and a winning vocal from Brookes.

The second half of the album finds Brookes stretching out a little and making the electric guitar more a focal point of his recordings. “Stories in the Rain” and the second to last song on the album “Somewhere Around Eight” are both excellent numbers with appropriately physical guitar and especially passionate vocals from Brookes. The folky vibe mentioned earlier makes its presence felt for a final time on the song “Siren” and the closer “Shackles” mixes a relatively downbeat lyrical message with some more of the bright instrumentation that defines the release. There’s some particularly evocative lead guitar scattered throughout the second half of “Shackles” that helps make it even more ideal of a closer. The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon is one of the most complete rock and pop releases in the last two decades and it is no stretch to say that Ben Brookes is poised to establish himself as one of the genre’s more formidable talents.

Josh Birdsong - Where the Light Bends (2017)

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Written by William Elgin, posted by blog admin

Detroit native Josh Birdsong followed the clarion call of modern music and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, aka Music City USA, to further pursue his musical ambitions and the results are formidable. His first release, an EP entitled Simple Geometry, introduced modern listeners to  a singer/songwriter cut from a distinctly different cloth than what audiences are perhaps accustomed to and his second EP Where the Light Bends further ups the ante. The six song EP incorporates compelling electronically driven guitar textures with an often poetic vulnerability seldom heard in the music world today. He’s assisted by producer Stephen Leiweke in this endeavor and the duo, along with other collaborators, are successful in assembling one of 2017’s most involving releases. Where the Light Bends is a fantastic listening experience from first song to last and shows a satisfying range of sound and approach for a young songwriter who is clearly just getting started.

“Complex Context” is one of the EP’s more intelligent numbers and sets an impressively assertive tone once the song begins in earnest. There’s an assortment of guitar sounds Birdsong harnesses to spectacular effect. Leading off with this song proves to be an excellent move as the obvious physicality of the performance involves listeners in the EP with minimal effort. Birdsong offers up his best chorus on the EP with the second tune “The Sound Beneath the Static” and it’s, likewise, one of the more fully developed tracks on Where the Light Bends while paring back the cluttered but effective approach of the first number. The second song, as well, arguably features Birdsong’s finest vocal on Where the Light Bends. The songwriting takes a particularly satisfying turn with the third track “Cloud 8” and the depth of vulnerability reflected in both his vocal and lyric makes for another high point on the release. The steady pulse of “Too Much to Hold” is reminiscent of the first song and Birdsong does an exemplary job of coupling his sensitive vocal approach with a surprising assertiveness and gravitas. It’s one of the best vocals on Where the Light Bends and, despite its idiosyncratic sound, is quite an accessible song.

“Arctic Desert” is the EP’s second to last song and one of the best examples of Birdsong synthesizing his influences that you’ll hear on Where the Light Bends. Birdsong’s guitar work is one of the defining musical elements on the EP and this track highlights some of his best playing on Where the Light Bends. The title track ends the release on an uplifting note musically while Birdsong serves up possibly his most personal lyric on the release, yet it contains enough of a well rounded approach that it never seems too obscure. This is one of the year’s best releases, EP or full length album alike, and shows that Birdsong’s growth is proceeding at an exponential rate. There’s still time for newcomers to get in near the ground floor of Birdsong’s career because, from this point forward, his work will only continue growing in scope and emotional weight.

This Pale Fire - Alchemy (2017)

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Written by Jason Hillenburg

Corban Koschak, working under the banner This Pale Fire, is a musical exponent from a, perhaps superficially, unlikely quarter. His New Zealand upbringing doesn’t put any sort of noticeable spin on his work but has allowed him to come of age in an incubator of sorts that fostered his talent more than might have proven possible in musical hubs like New York City, Los Angeles, London, et al. His brief tenure in the public spotlight has drawn favorable comparisons to Thom York, but he ultimately stands alone as a vocalist, musician, and songwriter. There’s an idiosyncratic quality defining the dozen songs on his first full length album Alchemy and enlisting the help of Levi Patel to realize the collection’s production needs. They have produced an artful and deeply emotional musical testament bubbling with the potential to send Koschak’s career into orbit.

The opener “Northern Lights” rings out with a great guitar sound and enormous delicacy. Koschak has an outstanding voice for this material and an obviously innate understanding of how to best frame it within a vocal melody, juxtaposed against a rich arrangement tied together with warm, sinewy guitar lines. There’s some light echo and reverb applied to the guitar on “Virago” and the six string melody has a slightly disjointed slant that sets the tune apart. There’s conventional and unconventional percussion alike providing a pulse for the song. Much of the rhythm track has a light snap reminiscent of typing on a manual typewriter while other sections of the song are anchored by a deep, yet ghostly pulse. “Float Out” is a much straighter affair than we’ve heard thus far and has appealing melodic virtues certain to find favor both on the recording and possible live performances. The same production style defining the earlier songs remains in full effect and does a particular excellent job of helping this cut stand out from the pack.

The hushed acoustic landscape opening “The Sky” has enough of a melodic hook to pull us in and Koschak’s voice introduced to the mix seals the deal. It’s a brief piece, not even clocking in at two minutes, and wafts by with intimate, elegiac grace. “Wolf” is, essentially, a solo performance as well with Koschak returning to the acoustic fueled musing of the aforementioned song, but there’s an added gossamer thin keyboard backdrop imbuing the arrangement with a dollop of color. Theatricality comes through a little more with the song “End of Science” and the unusual quality heard in its introduction translates into a fragile delicacy hinging on the melodic chemistry between Koschak’s voice and the other instruments. It’s one of the finest moments on Alchemy and culminates beautifully with some tasteful drumming and vocal work.

Keyboards and piano weave together to spectacular effect on the album’s finale “Outro”. As the title implies, the closing number is primarily instrumental, but Koschak’s singing and a fine, albeit brief, lyric adds to the song’s luster. It’s a near orchestral moment for This Pale Fire’s music and brings Alchemy to a suitably lyrical conclusion. Corban Koschak’s songwriting, musical, and vocal talents are far too immense to remained confined to his island home and his increasing global exposure will expand his scope and bring him the critical attention he richly deserves.

EZLA - Outcasts (2017)

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Written by Stephen Bailey, posted by blog admin

EZLA’s rising profile in the music world should grow exponentially as a result of her debut EP release Outcasts, a five song collection revealing her to be a complete stylist who has found total accord between her material and presentation. She’s been at this for a little while, as evidenced by her thirty thousand plus Spotify streams, so this shouldn’t be too much of a shock, but rarely does a young singer/songwriter offer herself up to the listening public with such dramatic vividness. She definitely assumes a darker songwriting mantle than what we are customarily used to in popular music, but performers like Lana Del Rey and moody electronica has paved the way for this sort of intensity finding favor in a musical style once singularly devoted to simply having a good time. EZLA isn’t about having a good time, per se – the music definitely has entertaining qualities, but EZLA’s main motive here is some old fashioned soul bearing reaching far beyond your typical good time music. 

She begins the release with its title song and first single. An abiding quality shared by each of the EP’s five song is focus – these are songs never extending over the four minute mark and are crafted with such uniform allegiance to not wasting a single word or note that they come off all the better for it. The lure of self-indulgence is particularly strong with young songwriter, especially those emboldened by the idea they have something important to say, but EZLA handles such inclinations in a highly artful way while still embracing a faint anthemic spirit with this number. The second number continues that mood. “Skeletons”, really, underlines the darker mood heard in the EP’s opener with strong melodic virtues and even stronger refrain. No need look no further than the song title to see that attitude persists across the entirety of the release.

She pulls back from it with the song “Satellites”. It’s the closest she comes to an all out love song and it’s to her credit she wreathes the song with a veneer of slightly panting desire rather than trite sentiments and overwrought invocations of undying love. The slightly dire point of view dominating much of her songwriting returns with the song “Hangman” and she once again distinguishes herself as a songwriter who arrives at those effects honestly rather than laying on a cartoonish vision of despair. This is a singer/songwriter who has obviously thrown her lot in with the wilder side of life and it results in a wholly believable songwriting clinic from a performer older than her years. The finale “Psycho Killers” shows that she is quite talented at entertaining the audience, albeit if you share her dark storytelling sense. This is a chaotic sounding tune that, nonetheless, has obvious structure and manages to incorporate all of the qualities that ground EZLA’s music in recognizable terrain. Melody is an important reason why Outcasts is such a resounding success because it makes more palatable a lyrical vision that certainly isn’t for any Pollyannas staring at the world through rose colored glasses. EZLA has arrived in a big way with this EP release.