It’s pop music, but it isn’t just the same old, same old. Enter UK singer/songwriter Natalie Holmes and Child from her August 2013 EP of the same name. Child is playful and serious at the same time. Ms. Holmes uses her voice as much as an instrument as a delivery mode for her lyrics. The instrumentation is light and textural, but very well done. Natalie’s keyboard work is a highlight here. At first, I thought that Natalie’s bandcamp.com site did not link to any of…
Read MoreA beautiful, natural voice is one of the staples of singer / songwriter Myla Smith, seen here on This Time I Mean It from her October 2012 EP, Drugs. Myla has been making great music since at least 2006 and is about to release (as of this writing) a new long-player, Hiding Places, due out this month. (Due to forward posting, it is probably already released, check the link below for status.) You can find a host of information on Myla…
Read MoreNeil McSweeney has a vocal quality that nearly mirrors Roy Orbison in pitch and tonal quality, sans part of the vibrato of the late Mr. Orbison. It’s a very pleasing sound and it is front and center here on Snowblind from his forthcoming long player, Cargo, due out later this month (September 2013). When you add Neil’s fine vocals, the subtle textures of the instrumentals and the fine female harmonies (not credited as of this writing), you have a delightful song and…
Read MoreAustralian singer/songwriter and multi-genre artist, Diana May Clark, adds another style to her jazz, tango and Portuguese flavored Brazilian music-alternative pop. No, I didn’t stutter, and because Diana has a tremendous musical repertoire of styles that she is already versed at, her alt-pop is absolutely influenced by them in a positive way. Here on Sunny Daze, from the EP of the same name, (really a 2-song single with an alternate take of the title track, scheduled for release June…
Read MoreSinger-songwriter Ian Britt has very diverse tastes in music-from Eminem to Enya. That’s a wide divide which is not only diverse and interesting, but not unlike my own very diverse musical tastes. Still, Ian Britt keeps close to the folk-pop vein in his own musical endeavors. Case in point is the two-song (as of this writing) EP Understood (April 2013), where Crazy comes from. There is blistering emotion, anger and loss in the lyrics, but the song itself is beautifully introspective. Why the…
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