Album Review - 'Home, Truths', The Cape Race

Hello, 

Welcome to blog post 23! Today I have a fantastic British rock band from Manchester called 'The Cape Race' and I'll be reviewing their upcoming full length debut album 'Home, Truths'. The album will be released on the 11th August and I cannot wait to see what you all think of this band, lets go!

The Cape Race are a five piece band made up of David Moloney (vocals), Matt Sayward (guitar), Adam Lewis (bass, vocals), Scott Perkins (guitar) and Jonny Davys (drums). This band know the definition of 'rock'. Its so refreshing to hear such a loud and vibrant sound coming from this band. In recent years, many 'rock' bands have trailed into the path of 'pop' and have disappointed me when they call themselves a 'rock' band. 

Not this band, oh no, this band know what rock is and do it with a fantastic of mix that keeps the album strong throughout. The band must have spent a long time getting the mix of the album right because I love an album that lets your ears listen to every member of the band, especially the bass. In a lot of albums, the bass is drowned out, but is just as important as the other instruments. The bass lines are heard so clearly on this album, it adds such a great difference in tone to the album especially in songs like 'Collapsing' and in the verses of 'Home Truths'.

If you love head-banging to some real rock riffs and heavy drums then get ready for this album. A lot of it is the heavier side to rock, but the music industry needs a band like this as I've been searching for too long for a proper rock band like this! David's voice is perfect for the band too with a near on screaming voice, but not tipping to that point. He has a fantastic range of vocals too that can reach those falsetto (high) notes extremely well, not to mention a fantastically strong vocal prowess too throughout the record.

The bands sections and breaks in the record definitely know how to keep the songs going, examples of this are the tracks 'Now, Voyager' and 'Digging For Gold'. The build ups for those songs and the sheer sound of noise that come from them at the end from what they built up from at the start is mesmerising to listen to. In 'Digging For Gold', even from the start to the first minute, you know something special is going to happen.

The thing about this album that gets me hyped up about it when I'm listening to each track is that the sound is the same, but each song is different. They haven't tried to be too adventurous, they know their sound and I respect them for sticking to it. Each song has been looked at with incredible depth and talent to make completely different to the song before on the album. Whether this be the breaks they use in the songs, the use of David's falsetto range or a plane and simple switch from regular time to half time. This album keeps on giving and the fact its a deluxe is more of a reason to go get it. 

Its very hard for me to listen to a band at full volume, but this band really deserve to be cranked up to full because the experience is just...well...awesome! The best part is usually when you turn it up loud, a lot of the music is drowned out, but not this album, if anything it adds to the experience! 

So when you all go get the album, you can all tell me what you think it sounds like at full volume! It actually gets me excited the fact that this album will hopefully drive the band to where they need to be in the business. I wish these boys all the best of luck and I'll be following their journey very closely and get the opportunity to go see them live very soon!

The songs that I recommend to you when you buy the album are "Digging For Gold", "Little Whites [Bonus Track]", "Home Truths", "Collapsing", "You Should Have Known" and "Now, Voyager". Although personally I'm loving every track on this album which is rare for me.

I feel very privileged to be given the opportunity to review this bands album before its release, especially when I am loving their sound and the music they are creating. I will leave links below for one of the bands singles which will be on the album and links to their website and all that goodness!

Thank you very much for reading and until next time. 

Lewis

Website: http://thecaperace.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecaperace

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecaperace

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thecaperace

Single Review - 'Clocks Of Our Lives' , James Poole

Hello you wonderful lot!

Welcome to blog post 21. Today I'm going to let you all know about a fantastic singer/songwriter that goes by the name of James Poole. His single 'Clock Of Our Lives' has certainly caught my attention and I'm looking forward to share this with all of you. James contacted me and asked if I could review this song for the blog and of course I agreed.  

This song is a very beautiful and moving song, simplistic and emotional throughout. The simplicity of the song comes from it just being James singing and a pianist. His voice really shines through and you can really focus on each note he is hitting. James has an incredible voice and one that should be recognised more in the industry. If you really take in every note, he is a very emotional singer and this shows throughout the song.

James has used the track by Ludovico Einaudi called 'White Clouds' to then place lyrics over the top which is a smart move and works really well the the tone of James' voice. He is very attached to the song composed by Einaudi too. The piano drives the song beautifully, the changes between chords is just faultless.  At times the keys are used with such control that they're so lightly touched, you can only just about hear the notes being played...beautiful. 

When I first contacted James via his Twitter, I noticed he certainly had a fantastic following of fans! Its great for unknown artists to have that sort of following of fans because it keeps the artist going. If they know people are willing to stick around and support, then he will keep going to strive for success. 

The first thing I thought of when I heard the single was it sounds a lot like John Legend 'All Of Me". As I searched through his Youtube page and he has done a cover of this song! Fantastic cover too!

Check out James' single in the video and I'll link below and the original piano track James sung over. Thank you for all the support for the blog and I hope you all enjoyed this post on a beautiful song!

Thanks for reading and until next time! 

Lewis

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamesPoole_

Instagram: http://instagram.com/james_poole_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesPooleHQ

EP Review - 'Never Have Enough', Carnival Youth

Hello! 

Welcome to blog post 20! 20!? How time flies! Today I have a special treat for you in the name of a young Latvian band called 'Carnival Youth'. These guys contacted me and asked if I would review their EP for them. I was privileged when I heard the sound these teens were creating. This EP is out July 21st and I cannot wait to buy it, here's why...

The band 'Carnival Youth' formed only 2 years ago and have a very Bombay Bicycle feel to them with some indie pop and folk thrown into the mix (sounds tasty right!?). Its a nice mix to say the least and one that is refreshing to my ears. The band have managed to create music which is extremely clever for teenagers to produce and create.

The EP sounds like the band have been together for 10 years and this is their 4th studio album, but instead this is their first EP!? Its got a really good vibe to the whole sound of the EP that can crank up at an instant by bringing the whole band in, to then being very atmospheric. The song "Seasons" does this very well, its one of the more louder songs and really fits nicely in the EP coming 3rd out of 5 songs. You know it's got that energy and aura about because it when you turn it off for 5 minutes and turn it back on there is a distinct feel of excitement and that 'wall of sound'.

Once the EP starts playing I can't help but nod my head to the beat of the music. They have made some great melodies throughout the EP. The vocals aren't too strenuous to listen to either, its easy going and I like that monotone voice for the band. It suits the vibe well, if he decided to try stretch his voice throughout the songs, it wouldn't work. 

The strongest song on the EP is the last song called "Never Have Enough" and also the title of the EP. The song starts off with just tambourine and guitar to then introduce the piano with the main melody. This clever little tune has a great change for the chorus which lifts the whole vibe of the song to change to a shuffle and a key change, it definitely needed it to keep the song growing strong. By the third listen I was already humming along to the whole song.

I always enjoy a whole album to keep on a constant rollercoaster. This band do this throughout, where your ears don't know what is coming next during the tracks. 

Is it going to breakdown? Is it going to start building up? Just when your mind starts to think these through, they're throwing you off to something completely different. 

The one thing that intrigued me the most when I stumbled across a live video of them playing was the fact the drummer was also the lead singer!? I was astonished because being a drummer, I know how difficult it is to sing and play at the same time. Especially the level he is playing at for a teenager too, incredible talent! 

My personal favourite is 'Brown Eyes', its got a nice guitar melody to it to then come in with a well written drum part. The chorus is very punchy, more hard hitting than the verse which keep my head bopping (you'll have to see for yourself)!

This band are doing very well with getting the attention of the business as they have done festivals such as The Great Escape in Brighton.  They are also already booked to perform at some of Eastern Europe's biggest music festivals this summer including Sziget, and Positivus; Carnival Youth perform the following UK dates:

July 20 - Guilfest Festival
21 Lock Tavern, London (EP launch)
22 Purple Turtle, Reading
23 The Garage, London (w/ The Escapists + The Half Earth)


Look out for this bands name in the next few years as I feel they are going to blow up quickly and I have been privileged to review this EP of theirs. I look forward to going to one of their gigs very soon and don't forget to check out their EP which comes out on the 21st July 2014!

Thank you very much for reading and until next time

Lewis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarnivalYouth

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarnivalYouth

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/carnivalyouth

Something Different - What Is A Review?

Hello!

Welcome to blog post 19! Today I wanted to do something different,  a little bit of a rethink to what actually is a review because ive been reading a lot recently and its got me thinking about what I do for this blog.

A lot of friends and family have asked me in the past few weeks or so "why are you doing this blog"? Well its for a number of reasons to be honest. One being the fact that I love discovering music and most of the bands that I have reviewed have come from doing this blog. Looking down the list of previous posts, I really enjoyed making every single one and will hopefully continue to do so.

Another reason why I do this is partly to give something back to the music industry. A lot of us take music for granted and don't actually pay for their hard work they put into the songs and I want to do something more than that because music is my life. As well as giving back to the industry,  I also want to be apart of it.

Anyway, onto the reason for the post! 

I was listening to BBC Radio 2 the other day in the car and Chris Martin from Coldplay was on it talking about how so many people now give their different opinions on Coldplays music that he sometimes forgets his own opinion on the songs. 

This got me thinking about how I think about songs or albums when I go to review them. When I was writing about the new Coldplay album 'Ghost Stories', I read a few reviews about it first and I came across a quite high caliber review.  It was saying how Martin made this more into an album that suited himself in his situation right now with his break-up etc, but also saying it should be a solo album too.

After reading this review I had a certain mind set about the album and was going to go on and write about how his album shouldve been a solo album etc. Then I stopped,  took a break and came back to it because something wasn't right. I had another listen and realised that these were not my thoughts to the album at all! It was then I realised what a review is... its a personal thought to something that you have much knowledge and passion to write about.

I think album reviews these days are written too quickly from major press and websites. They jump the gun too quickly without realising the potential of the review. I've listened to 'Ghost Stories' many more times and now and I read the same 'high caliber' review that I read before and I think its wrong. Yes I have said about it being personal but these reviews come out the same day they're released and they don't exactly get given a lot of time to listen to the albums before the review has to be printed.

I am aware that these companies that I am talking about get early copies of the album, but some of these reviews I have seen still seem too rushed, as if the content they want to put out its just another review. I never get the feeling they take in every essence of every note in that album to write about.

I hope you've reached this point and can now either agree or disagree with my opinions on reviews these days and how they are written for major magazines, newspapers and websites. What are your thoughts? 

Thanks for reading and until next time

Lewis