7. Paul Farrin – Losing My Mind
Losing My Mind is club music done right. The pulsating electronic dance track has a trance inducing beat that glides alongside an anthemic chorus that yearns you to join in up until the heavy crashing drop that is the chorus. Backed by an infectious bassline, the song’s distinctive selling point comes in the chorus drop where it almost transitions from a commercial pop production style to a heavy metal banger. Paul’s penchant for progressive house is undeniable on this piece, as the styles seamlessly switch and flow into one another.
The howling falsetto in the song’s latter off sets it over the edge. There’s a strong contrast between the supple and entrancing vocals on this piece and the more abrasive head bang inducing drop that goes alongside it. Somehow, that pairing works wonderfully off each other. With an array of influences from more conventional commercial house legends like Armin Van Buren and David Guetta to the more offbeat ones like The Chemical Brothers, Farrin’s eclectic take on progressive house is well worth your time, especially so if you plan to go to a club.
6. The Chris Ruben Band – Won’t See You
With a video that is wacky, hilarious, and entertaining, The Chris Ruben Band announced their single ‘Won’t See You’ with an especially captivating style. The psychedelic indie rock piece is undeniably odd, made even more so with the video filled with aliens, zapping, and a whole lot more. It’s incredibly well directed and shot as well. The song starts rather slow, giving off a momentary false illusion that it’s going to be a simple and easy going indie folk piece.
But when that chorus hits around the two minute mark and Chris starts to sing, impassioned and loudly, ‘Because baby!’, you know you’re in for a ride. It’s the kind of song that lives long in your head for its moments, particularly when that first chorus hits. The ability to craft that momentary sequence to be as unforgettable as it is on ‘Won’t See You’ is remarkably hard in my eyes. I adore this song, it’s just so loaded with passion that you want to hear Chris sing it right in front of you so you can absorb it all that more.
Oh, and if I didn’t mention it enough already, the video is going to be five minutes of fun you definitely won’t regret.
5. Exxxyle – The Cancer Redux
The solo project of Frank Loots, Exxxyle is a defiantly heavy metal outfit that is aggressive, abrasive, and introspective all at once. Although beginning with rough and ominous undertones on the verse, Frank does bring a whole lot of melody and harmony on the chorus that allows these two aspects of the singular song riff wonderfully between each other. Of course, it wouldn’t be a bona fide metal banger without a good scream that Frank dutifully obliges with at the end of each chorus.
Using cancer as an outward metaphor for restrictions, Frank discusses our impulses and desire to rebel as something innate and wonderful. But unfortunately, society sees our desire to embrace and chase individuality as a cancer that needs to be held back and repressed. It is in that dilemma, between our desire and society’s repression of the same, that Frank ponders over what is the real cancer. Honestly, I think we can all agree that the latter seems to be the problem.
4. Francesco Mongatti – Searching For The Mankind’s Soul
Opening with an interstellar and supersonic set of sounds, Francesco Mongatti has you instantly intrigued with his nigh interdimensional instrumental opus. On the song’s meaning, Mongatti says the following: “By defining the Mankind’s Soul as the spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, some could argue that morality and principles have been lost by our current Mankind.” ‘Searching for the Mankind’s Soul’ is all about this journey, this quest, this exploration into the depths of humankind, an uncovering of our core and barest essence. Clocking it at near ten minutes long, it is a complete sonic journey that requires your every ounce of attention as it majestically progresses from section to section conveying different sections of Mankind’s evolution through a myriad of different sounds.
There’s an underlying theme of the importance of the ‘search’ through this record, an acknowledgement that the capability to understand is intrinsically tied to an adoration of the search itself. It is such a luscious and grandiose track, carrying with an inextricable air of magnificence that gives it a spiritual quality. If you’re interested in instrumental electronic, I can’t think of a more beautiful piece in recent memory.
3. Madelyn Mandry – A Thousand Miles
No, not Vanessa Carlton. Madelyn Mandry’s ‘A Thousand Miles’ is a powerful pop tune, one that is well in line with modern renditions of electro pop that utilise spacey and grandiose production to elevate its impact. There’s a clear and radiating synergy between Madelyn and her producer Scott Farris, each intonation seems to just float on the beats he’s creating. All in all, on ‘A Thousand Miles’, the duo rework and rehash some standard pop music themes into a product that is wholly enjoyable.
The track is about breaking up with someone in the wake of long distance, that painful feeling of letting go of someone you love but circumstance just can’t seem to let you be with them. The song also describes the very painful feeling of coming to terms with a former lover who’s moved on while you’re still hopelessly attached.
2. Buttered – It Don’t Matter
Smooth. In a single word, that’s all ‘It Don’t Matter’ needs to be summarised as. Much like the name of the band itself, ‘It Don’t Matter’ is about as smooth as butter; oozing style, suave, and good vibes. The Aussie duo are a whole lot of different things, bringing together such a wonderfully slick and pleasurable track on ‘It Don’t Matter’. Setting the intention to bring some much-needed light into this world, Buttered are planning on releasing new music every month for the rest of 2021. ‘It Don’t Matter’ is the first of the bunch. If it’s anything to go by, I’ll be listening to a whole lot of their down tempo and mellow tunes to calm me on a stressful evening.
Sometimes you just need to detach, to unplug from everything around you and just completely let yourself be taken away into a state of bliss. As far as a catalyst to enable that feeling, ‘It Don’t Matter’ is right up there. It is a soulful, dreamy, and effortless piece of ambient music that is as wonderfully produced as it is sung.
1. Jenny Colquitt – Shape
Opening with a compelling and uplifting piano intro, Jenny Colquitt’s latest single ‘Shape’ is a powerfully progressive piece of rock pop. Her voice, strong and controlled, is so innately captivating and inspiring that you feel swept away with every word she’s singing . ‘Shape’ is monumentally grandiose, a cinematic wonder that’s bound to have you feeling like you’re in a movie scene. Honestly, it probably merits being the soundtrack for the final scene in a drama movie.
Jenny’s style and voice is so universally palatable that I’d be hard pressed to find anyone who wouldn’t find something to enjoy in Shape. It’s just a seamless and meticulously composed piece of commercial rock pop that is bound to excite and inspire. You want to be singing it from rooftops, imagining your place in the world as something far more magnificent than where you are presently. Who knows, it may even inspire you to go out and be someone better.