#769: Slut Magic - Show Me

 

Hypnotic and propulsive, ‘Show Me’ is the latest single from Brooklyn punks Slut Magic and oozes all the effortless cool you might expect from such a band. Self-described as a “ransom note as music”, it’s both sultry and sleazy, though it’s you-show-me-yours-I’ll-show-you-mine message might not be what you think.

This review was originally written for When the Horn Blows. Click here to read in full.

#768: Glass Towers - Nobody Walks In LA

 

Regardless of when and where one grew up, there’s an argument to be had that everyone is trying their hardest to recapture a misspent youth. Whether subconsciously or otherwise, music is the perfect evidence for this argument. Instantly nostalgic, it harbours an ability to immediately transport listeners to a specific time and place regardless of genre; a universal effect that can be as personal or as inclusive as one needs.

This review was written for When the Horn Blows. Click here to read in full.

#766: Maisie May - Lost My Love

 

Though 2020 has affected everyone differently, one wouldn’t have though nostalgia would have been a feeling conjured by a global pandemic. Still it was one felt by New York’s Maisie May, who when quarantining upstate in her childhood home, the nostalgic feelings this in turn evoked manifesting in her latest single ‘Lost My Love’.

This review is originally written for When the Horn Blows. Click here to read in full.

#765: Celiin - Marilyn

 

Referring to your tracks as ‘love letters’ might well appear twee to the uninitiated, but Norway’s Celiin couldn’t be less twee if she tried. Since emerging in 2019 with her debut single ‘Leonardo’, and the first of her First of the Love Letters Trilogy, Celiin has made a name for herself crafting exquisitely understated alt-pop offerings that bridge the gap between romance and depression. The latest of which, ‘Marylin’ not only concludes the trilogy, but also finds Celiin at her darkest and most primal.

This review was originally written for When the Horn Blows. Click here to read in full.

#764: Stefano Fasce - Human

 

While it might not often be possible to convey a narrative without lyrics, it is possible to convey feelings and emotion, something that Stefano Fasce manages to do effortlessly on ‘Human’, the lead single from his forthcoming album Solitary Places.  A fitting title for a single inspired “by the experience of being in a remote place and gaining a new, hopeful perspective on our reality”.

This review was originally written for When the Horn Blows. Click here to read in full.

#763: Sarah King - Nightstand

 

Murder ballads have long been a staple of folk culture, and as such, have long been a staple of American folk culture also, with the likes of The Doors and Bob Dylan drawing influence from their often allegorical and always dark narratives. Though varied in their perspectives and their outcomes, it was rare for the point of view to be sang from a female point of view, so what happens when you flip that perspective on its head?

This review was originally written for When the Horn Blows. Click here to read in full.

#762: China Bears - Jolene

 

As a music critic, being able to distance oneself from the music your reviewing is a valuable trait to learn. Though perhaps seemingly counterproductive (after all what’s music if it doesn’t invoke an emotional response) it allows writers to form balanced opinions and maintain a sense of professionalism that hyperbole for entertainment’s sake might otherwise not. There are times however, when the emotional response is too much to ignore, and any sense of professionalism falls by the wayside.

This review was origanally written When the Horn Blows. Click here to read in full.