How in the name of all that is sacred did I miss this? I know it’s better late than never, and I’m holding on hard to that.

This wasn’t exactly what I expected to hear, I mean we all know and love Flat Moon for that psychedelic funky sound, this isn’t that. ‘Dizzy’ instead is the meanest, bluesy slab of R’n’B rock I’ve heard in many many years. Glorious piano runs and blues guitar runs litter this from wonderful start to fantastic finish.

The length of this thing (I only wish it was longer to be honest) gives the band a chance for the track to develop, to build, from sparse to full on; it’s a breathtaking journey folks. And in common with previous releases the band are not happy unless they throw in other sounds – there is something of a distinct yacht rock feel to some of this.

I know there’s some sort of obligation on music reviewers to provide some sort of ‘sounds like guide’ but the list would be endless. And frankly, you need to get off your sofa, crank this up and dance until you’re sore.

Highlights? Too many to mention but here’s a few. The talking guitar in the intro. The sudden swell to full on sound. The frankly loose backing vocals. The guitar breaks underpinned by piano. The soulful breakdown. The saxophone at the end. That’s enough, the whole thing is just too fab to breakdown.

Oh Flat Moon you leave me breathless and dizzy with joy. Go listen.

Su I Think make what I like to call intelligent pop music; you know, really well put together poppy music that has great words.

So ‘yeah, cool’ comes with sorts of wonderful 80s’/80s’ pop sounds – the frankly Whitney Houston-esque joy of the choruses, the melodic slightly bittersweet sound of the guitar and the sparse voice and guitar start. It’s so full of sounds that make you smile it hurts. Oh, the sounds of my younger days!

But take a moment – actually way more than a moment – to dive down into the sound and we discover a track that is delightfully complex; Sounds surprise, sounds charm. There is layer upon layer of sound that make that fantastic sound. But there’s more, musically it tells the story of the track.

This is probably a good time to tell you what the track is about; Su explains “‘Yeah, cool’ is a song about the end. It’s about welcoming the break, letting go of the memories and still seeing the light. This is for the divas who love a happy ending to a sad situation. We wanted to convey that feeling of seeing the past for all it is: the past. To be able to look back for one more time and reminisce before moving forward to better things”.

I have to admit that at first sight I kinda misinterpreted the song because I saw ‘yeah, cool’ as a sarcastic statement. And perhaps that’s part of it, another layer to the song. I’ll leave that up to you to decide for yourself.

There is only one word to describe this song, joyous.

A release from Fold always comes with a message, and the message of ‘Forever War’ is both important and current. It calls out the military-industrial complex for enabling endless wars in the name of profit.

Since I got the track preview, world conflict has shifted up a gear with the Israel-Hamas war spreading its effects to neighbouring regions, the UK/US actions against Houthi in Yemen and US hawks calling for direct military action against Iran. And as though we needed it, military leaders in both the UK and US have ramped up demands for the increase in military forces because of the threat of Russia. It is of course no coincidence that this year is an election year in both the US and UK; a current government flexing its military muscles either directly or via proxies is always good for re-election. Anyone remember Thatcher’s war in the Falklands? And of course there are the numerous conflicts that have continued forever – often proxy wars,

Fold always reflect the theme of their tracks in the music, and here they use a subtle – and undoubtedly appropriate – nod to Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ to set that musical stage. Musically the track is simple but complex, or complex but simple if you will. A striking melody line is set over subtle beats, samples of found sounds and words. While the music isn’t strident, the words hold the power of the track. The understated nature of the music somehow adds to the words.

‘Forever War’ is a protest song for now. It protests against not only governments but the beneficiaries of war – the military-industrial complex; the companies who lobby for conflict. Its message is an important one, one that we all need to take notice of.

The info

I think it’s important to acknowledge the source of voices in the track. A narrative from Mnar Adley takes centre stage in the verses with additional passages from Alice Walker and Lorraine Hansberry, but the Forever War hook is voiced by an expanse of figures including Kurt Vonnegut, Noam Chomsky, Douglas Adams, bell hooks, Mike Ruppert and more. Angela Davis even makes a cameo doubling the phrase ‘military-industrial complex.’

I was really impressed with Since Torino’s last release ‘Snow’ (for that in detail, why not read my review). It melded and blended several styles of music into something intensely emotional and beautiful.

Now, while objectively I knew that the release after ‘Snow’ would be equally as lovely, there was that one nagging thought that refused to go away, that drifted around at the very fringes of my mind; that it wouldn’t be as good. I can say right now that I really shouldn’t have worried.

The band say that the song ‘blends emo and country in a folk-rock waltz’ and this is absolutely right; although what it doesn’t say is quite now they do this. And let’s be clear, if this wasn’t done with great composition and frankly wonderful arrangement, the danger of this being an enormous mess was always there. There is no build from what I’m going to call folk-based Americana to Emo; the two styles twist sinuously around each blending into something that isn’t either of these things. And yeah sure there are some strong musical references to American Folk – there’s a rather beautiful harmonica ‘break’ or two for a start. But there are parts of this song that sound – as my helpful friend commented – like Green Day playing a Springsteen song. And then again there are parts which sound a bit like alt-folk played with jazz drumming; oh those sublime cymbal sounds.

The problem with attempting to dissect a song like this is that it all sounds like it’s a sonic mess, and it bloody well isn’t that at all. It’s a beautifully written and played song that bares its emotional soul almost too painfully.

This brings me to what the song is about – and make no mistake this is a song about something. The band rather modestly describe it as being about ‘how easy it is to stagnate and how hard we try to do better for ourselves and the people around us’. I say modestly because there is a great deal more to this song that that description implies. This is something I urge you to discover for yourselves.

Since Torino’s ‘Everything Else’ is sublime. It intrigues and mesmerises you musically. Its words come from the soul. Quite how the band do what they do, I have the slightest idea and all I can do is be captivated by their music.

If you’ve read a few of my reviews you might have picked up that I’m a fan of great voices. And when I say voices I mean voices that do way more than demonstrate their range. For me a fantastic singer is one that can tailor their vocals to the song, tell the story, and add that certain extra something that hooks you in. Leeds based artist Runa does that in spades.

‘Are You Lost’ lies somewhere at the intersection of alt-pop and torch song. Musically it comes with a sense of mystery, a sense of something primal and coming to you direct from Runa’s soul. The sound is densely layered – string sounds, eerie guitar provide a somewhat retro feel that melds beautifully with the more poppy elements – and deeply atmospheric. It sounds timeless. And over, and within this, is her voice. It hypnotises, it compels, it drags you willingly into the song.

This is an utterly beautiful song that you MUST listen to; It’s music that goes beyond easy labelling; and it’s all the more wonderful for that. It’s that simple.

The info

Runa, although now based in Leeds, is originally from a small town in southern Italy.

‘Songbird’ is a fantastically lovely song. Really, that’s the review. OK I suppose the review should be a little more informative. So here goes.

You may (or I suppose not) know Ruth for jazz infused songs in what I’m going to call a modern retro style. ‘Songbird’ marks a change of style. There is still a jazz feel but musically it takes that jazz feel into a kind of slow groove trip-hop direction. There are beats and it’s more electronic. What remains is the brilliant vocals. It is the best of the new and the best of the old; to coin a cliche.

As with Ruth’s previous releases the captivating element is the vocals. Here they are bright and light, and provide the jazzy part of the song.

The song also plays with you; it starts with a distinctively jazz keys intro before introducing the new sound. It made me smile, it’s clever.

To repeat myself, ‘Songbird’ is a fantastically lovely song. It’s enchanting and full of all kinds of musical goodness.

Stream/Download https://kycker.ffm.to/songbird

Leeds based band Bean King do poppy shoegaze. I can hear you asking ‘Frank, what makes this poppy shoegaze band special?’; well it’s that they season this with more than a touch of grunge and a hint of emo.

‘Eagle Death’ – a song title I find myself strangely drawn to – has at its heart a languid tune that is earwormy as hell. The tune itself is swamped in mesmerising guitar – waves of glorious fuzzed up sound and some really rather good lead. It does of course, and you’d expect this, build to something a little more raucous. But it’s not the all out guitar wall of sound you might be expecting, it’s subtle.

At this point I feel I need to add in another element of their sound. The thing is that there is the merest dusting of a psychy sound. It’s in the vocals – way back in the mix, coming at you in waves of vocals that wash over you like syrup.

The whole is an absolute joy; glorious sounds that you really want to immerse yourself in and drift around in in absolute bliss. There’s really something rather special about this song. Wondrous stuff.

The info

Formed in February 2023, Bean King is a Leeds based pop-shoegaze quartet, mixing other influences such as emo and grunge. The band have been in the studio diligently working on their debut EP. ‘Eagle Death’ is the first single release from the EP.