The spirit and sound of vintage Dexys Midnight Runners is alive and well with That’s Me, (Shoestring) the infectious goodtime bouncy new single from COLIN HALL, not least since it features trombonist Big Jim Paterson from that classic line-up. Guaranteed to lift the spirits, you can find it at https://colinhall.bandcamp.com/track/thats-me.
A guitar and drums duo from Wolverhampton, BROOZER tag themselves as Anti Silence Pioneers. Well, they may not be pushing any envelopes, but new single All The Same is solid chug and fizz punky pop with more than a touch of The Only Ones about it. Which is no bad thing. CHARTREUSE are a jazzily soulful four piece with a fondness for fractured time signatures, as made evident on the forthcoming Is It Autumn Already EP, trailed by Things Are Changing Too Quickly and their rather fine recent piano and strings-based single Only You which, sung by frontman Michael, musically references Alicia Keys Empire State Of Mind while also calling to mind the early albums of Richard Hawley.
Also of a jazzy persuasion GEORGIA BRAY has been likened to Corrine Bailey Rae and new EP Forget Me Not should certainly get her much wider attention, opening with the Latin bossa nova feel of Dirty Little Secret and sustaining the groove with Over Again, the smoothe horny funkiness of Think About You and, catching slower Girl From Ipanema breeze, the breathy, kittenish-sung Tease Me. Ronnie Scott’s should be on the phone.
It’s hard to ignore the Verve influences evident on Medicate + Alleviate from Wolverhampton’s LIONS OF DISSENT, which clearly has a thing for Bittersweet Symphony, while the narcotic otherworldy influence of Ashcroft can also be heard on Kubrick. A little obvious perhaps, but they weave gold rather than copper from the melting pot.
Described as a love letter to a dying planet, electronica, jazz and avant-pop alchemist ROSIE TEE releases her new EP, Earth, Embrace Me, next month, trailed by the singles Lungs, 99-seconds worth of bleeps, keyboards and cosmic atmospherics, and the pulsing otherworldy Anchors which conjures a cocktail of Bush and Bjork.
From Rhino & The Ranters to a solo spotlight, R John Webb now surfaces under a new guise as DANDY THE VANDAL who, backed by The Godforsaken Sweethearts, offers debut single Dandy The Vandal, a snapshot of his very own bohemian chic Ziggy Stardust, a steady driving drum beat propelling the rhythm as he parlays Reed, Jagger and Bowie (and, of course a nod to Bolan’s Dandy In The Underworld) as he sings “They all want some of his rock n roll/He's the trigger to the lock and load”. He may well be.
Drum set a walking beat with the piano joining in for Sinking, EUAN BLACKMAN nicely lives up to the Facebook blurb about writing “introspective and evergreen songs for rainy road trips with wistful gazes”, which sits nicely alongside previous release 24 Hours 7 Days, though it would be interesting to hear him on something with a little more muscle to it.
Featuring Ange Lloyd on vocals, the latest rising talent to be showcased on their releases, produced with customary magic touch by Gavin Monaghan, Wolverhampton’s gloriously retro pop collective CERTAIN perfectly capture the sound of 60s Spector girl pop balladry on Whatever I Do, a song that vividly conjures thoughts of The Ronettes, The Crystals or, on a UK note, even Cilla Black. Terrific. Bring on an album.
