Browsing Tag

ballad

Shift your perception on affection with TIBIBI’s ethereal neo-classic single, Remind Me.

Posted on 1 August 2021

‘Remind Me’ is the latest artfully ethereal release from alternative singer-songwriter, producer and engineer, TIBIBI; whose neo-classic works carry the same haunting weight as Portishead while registering as enticingly authentic.

The single melodically spins the story of a person falling in love but not falling deep enough to lose their head. The suitably meditative semi-orchestral synth-pop single allows the lyrics to resonate as a mantra, a promise to yourself that you won’t descend to the depths of love you can’t pull yourself up from.

Remind Me starts as a neo-classic piano loop before classical strings weave into the mix with reverb-swathed analogue synths. TIBIBI’s gently layered vocals meld succinctly into the single which is conceptually powerful enough to shift your perception of love.

Remind Me is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Christopher Siu sets a cinematic score with his latest single, Once Again, featuring Amber Jakes.

Posted on 1 August 2021

For his latest single, Once Again, Toronto singer-songwriter and composer Christopher Siu collaborated with Amber Jakes to create a theatrically cinematic ballad; the orchestral score is almost arcane in its ability to immerse you in fantasy.

The light and sweeping piano notes set an evocative tone for Amber Jakes’ soulfully imploring vocal timbre that starts succinctly and climbs to the higher notes in line with the instrumental crescendos tenderly crafted by Siu. Once Siu’s vocals make a resounding appearance, his influences of Disney and music theatre start to shine through in the mesmerising single. Wherever Siu takes his sound next, we are sure that it will be a resounding, panoramic success.

The official lyric video is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sofia Biancardi shares visceral grief in her latest pop ballad, ‘Need You Now’

Posted on 28 June 2021

After listening to Sofia Biancardi’s latest single, Need You Now’, it is safe to say that London has a new luminary artist in its midst that has made the competition for the Mercury Prize a little harder.

The, quite literally, arresting release is everything that an indie ballad should be. There’s a sublime balance between poise, grace and fiercely intense expression. The otherworldly ethereal release is enough to leave you feeling like you’ve had a religious experience.

Words alone could never encapsulate the raw beauty in Need You Now, which captures the visceral obsessive distress that catches us when we contemplate losing the ones we need the most. It’s so far beyond a ‘watching the rain with pensive malaise’ kind of ballad; it’s a contending with a storm of guttural pain kind of ballad.

Need You Now officially released on June 25th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

NYC Singer-Songwriter Clanklin is set to release the most visceral ballad of the year with ‘Oath’

Posted on 19 May 2021
Clanklin

NYC’s singer-songwriter Clara Miller brought the same poise as seen in her performances with the New York City Ballet to her indie piano pop ballad, Oath.

Under her freshly adopted moniker Clankin, she is set to enamour pop, indie and folk fans alike. With the haunting reminiscences to the likes of Angel Olsen alongside her palpable mainstream potential, Clanklin offers a rarely found combination of accessibility and authenticity. She allows you to feel right at home within her magnetic sound while feeling the chills that only manifest through brand-new sensory experience. Oath delivers just that.

Oath is the title single for Clanklin’s forthcoming EP. With her tender vocals running through lyrics that document the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father paralleled with her historical introspection, you can’t help but become compassionately transfixed. If any 2021 release is worthy of a standing ovation, it’s Oath.

You can check out Clankin via her official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sophia James – beautiful, healing hope with ‘Sixty Years’

Posted on 20 April 2021

“Sixty years from today, the earth will have withered away”…Sophia James grew up in Long Beach, California, and that airy chilledness shows through in her music, earning her a place in the coveted ‘Top Ten’ on 2020’s American Idol. ‘Sixty Years’ is a beautiful, piano-based song, down-tempo but not slow, melancholic at times, but not sad, a mixture of jazz, folk, rock, and soul, hopeful, gentle, and charismatic. It’s a lovely record, Sophia’s beautiful vocals rolling and lifting, the lyrics stunning and superb.

It’s genuinely moving and emotive, Sophia’s voice carrying the listener away on a wave of beautiful nostalgia around love and regret, and the way some people are just destined to always be there, one way or another, no matter what – those relationships that you can leave untouched for five years and yet pick up like you only popped out yesterday. Sophia wants to ‘create music that will connect people, move people, and heal people’; in ‘Sixty Years’, she’s done just that. It’s a truly beautiful single.

Hear ‘Sixty Years’ on Spotify; check out Sophia James here or on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Surion takes an outside perspective in their insightful piano pop ballad, ’Beautiful Life’

Posted on 18 March 2021

Italian singer-songwriter Surion has released their latest piano pop single, ‘Beautiful Life’, after allowing his imagination to explore what it feels like for parents as they watch their children grow, succeed and fail before their eyes.

There’s nothing like a ballad that reaches outside of personal introspection and seeks to find compassion and instil gratitude. Beautiful Life does exactly that while using the gentle flurries of neo-classic notes to set a resounding tone.

If you could imagine what it would sound like if Tim Minchin took himself seriously, you will know exactly what you can expect when hitting play on Beautiful Life.

Beautiful Life released on February 26th; you can check it out for yourselves via Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Annie Tisshaw takes us back to ‘Last Night’ with her confessionally powerful pop single

Posted on 4 March 2021

‘Last Night’ is the latest confessionally powerful pop single from Norfolk-born singer-songwriter, Annie Tisshaw, with classical piano training behind her and resounding vocals to project, it’s impossible not to pay attention to the intense indie neo-classic ballad.

In the same way Kate Nash’s ‘Foundations’ leaves you gripped by the amorous drama, Last Night suckers you in through narrative lyrics brought to life with Annie Tisshaw’s striking vocals which also carry a classical touch.

After making an unapologetically feminist debut with ‘My Body’ in 2019, Annie Tisshaw has consistently exhibited her dynamism through her discography, needless to say, we’re already excited to hear what comes next from the magnetically multifaceted artist.

Last Night is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rae Kelly Soars High With Stunning New Track ‘Ignorant as Icarus’

Posted on 26 December 2020

Dublin-born singer-songwriter Rae Kelly mixes heartfelt, philosophical, and evocative lyrics with a blend of mildly jazzy pop piano to produce a beautiful, delicate, and charming new single in the shape of ‘Ignorant As Icarus’. Kicking off with some real Tori Amos/Amanda Palmer vibes with the solo piano and vocal section before the rest of the band kick in, it’s an intriguing mix of repeating bass motif and keyboard behind Rae’s stunning, lilting vocal.

The delivery is divine, dropping down to an almost choral middle eight, Kelly’s vocal becoming one more instrument in the mix before slipping back to poetic, storytelling, questioning lyrics once more.

There’s some serious talent on show here, Kelly’s voice exquisite and graceful whilst her lyrics are engaging and thought-provoking; there’s no mistaking the ‘early years’ training of Kelly’s church choir experience in her confidence and soaring mezzo-soprano range, but there’s some avant-garde pop perfection on display as well, all capped off by the stunning piano and bassline of the track. Now back writing and recording after an enforced hiatus, hopefully, there’s much more to come from the sublime Rae Kelly.

You can hear ‘Ignorant As Icarus’ on Spotify and follow Rae Kelly here or on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Andrea Charls ‘Arrow’ – a beautiful, soulful, indescribable whirlwind of exquisite vocal delivery

Posted on 21 December 2020

Andrea Charls is already an internationally recognised singer-songwriter, working with artists as diverse as Bobby McFerrin, Annie Lennox, Javier Limon, Pepe de Lucia, and Mario Frangoulis, with work recognised by the Latin Grammy Awards, The International Songwriting Competition, and the Hollywood Music and Media Awards.

Her new single ‘Arrow’ is a whirlwind of deep, rumbling bass, sequenced synthesisers, and Charls’ stunning, delicate multiply-layered vocal parts. There are elements of Suzanne Vega’s work here, mixed in with a vaguely Latin feel and obvious hints of Charls’ Cypriot heritage (Andrea was born and raised in Cyprus before moving to Boston, Mass., to pursue her career). It’s a dazzling track, melancholic, uplifting, charming, and elegant all at once, choir-like in parts and upbeat in others, all held together by Charls’ exquisite vocal delivery. Lyrically thought-provoking and contemplative, beautifully performed, and intricately put together; ‘Arrow’ really does deserve to be heard. Often.

Listen to ‘Arrow’ on Spotify; follow Andrea Charls on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Billy Boguard – Evergreen Scars: Sorrowfully Dynamic Minor-Chord Pop

Posted on 28 November 2020

Opening up with a cinematic minor-chord piano part before Boguard’s deep, baleful vocal, ‘Evergreen Scars’ is a beautiful, confessional song of grief and loss. Honest, heartfelt, and soulful, Boguard’s vocal tells a story of pain and longing, the full instrumentation dropping in around the minute mark for the unforgettable chorus.

Reminiscent of Hozier’s ‘Take Me To Church’, with elements of Lewis Capaldi or maybe a male-vocal Lana Del Rey, ‘Evergreen Scars’ tells of two souls destined from the beginning to destroy each other, writ deep with heartbreak and regret, and the inevitable aftermath, healing, and lessons learned, all over a sorrowful track full of power, dynamic, and presence.

Evergreen Scars official release date was November 27th, you can check it out now via Spotify.

Check out Billy Boguard via his website, or on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes