Tuesday Tracks: Your Weekly New Music Discovery – Aug. 23
Ne’er-do-well (Bryan Rolli), courtesy.
This week we feature the throwback metal of Soraia, acoustic flavors of The Backseat Lovers, Skinshape and Old Sea Brigade; and the reflective perspectives of Ne’er-do-well and Carla dal Forno.
Carla dal Forno, “Come Around” — As soon as I heard the snares followed by the echoing plucks of single guitar notes, I was enamored with this song. Carla dal Forno delivers a haunting vocal performance, reflecting on an old bandmate. Inspired by his way of playing the guitar, dal Forno brought this track to life with a coolness comparable by a nighttime breeze.
The Backseat Lovers, “Growing/Dying” — The swinging acoustic guitar melody reflects the themes of duality and fluctuation throughout this song. Reverberated guitars progressively wail in the background, mirroring the chaos of the narrator’s mind as he laments the ever-changing circumstances of his life and how little control he truly has over it.
Skinshape, “Theme For Lazarus” — This London artist has crafted an elegant mix of the playful and folky on this mostly instrumental track. The light pings of a xylophone lead into the plucky acoustic guitar and fiddle melody, and bass picks up to give a strong foundation backing the song. Brief, distorted vocals come in about halfway through, followed by a vibrant backing choir. It’s excellent to tune into this song and let your mind wander.
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Ne’er-do-well, “Compromise” — The wailing dual-guitar melody brings me back once again to my high school days, blasting my favorite pop-punk bands. This one-man-band also known as Bryan Rolli, sees the artist reflecting on his life and the compromises he’s had to make to attain the things he desired the most. His regrets are contrasted by the sacrifices he made and came short of attaining what he truly wanted.
Old Sea Brigade, “Monochrome” — Yet another acoustic-guitar-led melody on this week’s list. There’s a tranquil quality of the light and organic instrumentation from songs like these. “Monochrome” explores the feelings of idleness and boredom that comes with aging. As we grow older, we find ourselves attempting to fill the time with everything from work to hobbies to dependency issues.
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Soraia, “I Seek Fire” — We may be two years deep into the new decade, but that doesn’t mean that ’70s and ’80s nostalgia is gone. Soraia delivers this driving metal number that feels like it could’ve been dreamed up by the likes of AC/DC or Mötley Crüe. Lead singer ZouZou Mansour brings an animated vocal delivery that’s guaranteed to get stuck in your head and have you rocking along.
Tim’s pick: I have a bias for pop-punk. I simply can’t help myself when artists like Ne’er-do-well bring me back to the early days of my developing musical tastes. To be reminded of how blown away I was with the melodic cuts of skate punk and pop-punk bands of the era reminds me of those carefree moments. And considering the themes of looking back on “Compromise,” it’s deeply ironic that this is why I’m so drawn to it.
Follow hip-hop writer Tim Hoffman at Twitter.com/hipsterp0tamus.