Month: May 2022

Fresh New Tracks, Vol. 17 – Matt Csiszar, Fake Shape, Feather Weight

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews10 Comments

Another week, another boatload of new releases to choose from. For my 17th edition of Fresh New Tracks, I’ve selected three great new singles from (in alphabetical order) American singer-songwriter Matt Csiszar, Canadian alternative indie band Fake Shape, and Canadian artist Feather Weight.

MATT CSISZAR – “Chicago”

Matt Csiszar is an earnest and kind singer, songwriter, musician and composer based in Michigan who I got to know on Twitter last year. With a lifelong love for music, he started writing and recording his own songs at the age of 13, and over the years has taught himself to play guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His music is pretty eclectic, drawing from a wide range of genres and styles from pop, rock, folk, country and blues to electronic, funk, dance, industrial, jazz and even classical. A prolific artist, Matt released his debut album In The Mind in 1999 while in his early 20s, then played in the band Endless Question for a while before returning to recording and releasing music again as a solo artist in the early 2010s. Over the past 11 years, he’s released numerous singles and an astonishing seven albums, most recently his moody and beautiful instrumental classic work Pieces, Volume 1, in June 2021. He followed with more singles and an EP Forward last October, and has just dropped his latest single “Chicago“.

In addition to writing the music and lyrics and singing vocals, Matt played all instruments and produced, mixed and mastered the track. “Chicago” is a melancholy pop-rock ballad about a guy traveling to Chicago in the hopes of finding a lost love he let slip away. Over a lush array of programmed keyboards, strings, horns and drums, Matt layers acoustic, electric and bass guitar to create a beautiful and stirring soundscape. The twangy guitar notes in the bridge give the song a bit of a country vibe, and his raspy, plaintive vocals convey a sad resignation as he laments “Wandered around downtown, and now the rain is pouring down with no sign of her. I guess I learned my lesson. I know she was a blessing. I wish her all the happiness in the world.”

Connect with Matt:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

FAKE SHAPE – “‘Nother Thought“

Fake Shape – is that not a great band name! – is a Canadian alternative-indie group based in Hamilton, Ontario (the second act from Hamilton I’ve featured recently; just last week I wrote about Burn The Louvre on my previous edition of Fresh New Tracks). They formed in September 2018 as a five-piece, but now consist of four members: Chester Edington (guitar/lead vocals), David Baldry (keyboards/flugelhorn), Olivia Brown (bass, backing vocals) and Mackenzie Read (drums). Their bio states that each band member brings a different influence to Fake Shape’s sound, resulting in a music aesthetic falling between funk, indie rock, pop, and ambient electronic. From what I can tell by a search of various platforms, they didn’t start releasing music until early 2020, when they dropped two marvelous singles “Headspace” and “It’s Easy”. We all know what happened next to virtually all musicians and bands, as the pandemic brought things to a screeching halt.

Now that things are somewhat back to normal, Fake Shape was able to get back into the studio to record songs for their debut EP Night Swim, to be released June 14th. The band describes the EP’s songs as “drifting through contrasting mindsets and morphing textures like navigating a solitary swim through dark water.” In advance of the EP, they’ve dropped a fabulous new single “‘Nother Thought“, a haunting, melodically-complex beauty of a song. Starting off with ominous sounds, a resonant guitar note enters along with stomping drumbeats as Chester begins to sing in an arresting voice that fluctuates between a gravelly rasp and lilting falsetto. The music continues to build with gorgeous guitars, exuberant strings and horns, and thunderous percussion, climaxing in a goosebump-raising crescendo in the final chorus. I’m blown away, and now a full-fledged fan of this band!

About “‘Nother Thought”, the band explains “This song is about trying to convince yourself that you’re okay when you’re really not. It’s about acknowledging that you can trivialize your mood and emotions to make other people more comfortable, when really you should be working through your problems and taming the creatures in your head.”

Connect with Fake Shape:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

FEATHER WEIGHT – “It Follows”

Toronto, Canada-based Feather Weight started out as a four-piece in early 2018, playing a compelling style of music drawing from elements of garage rock, dream pop and psychedelia, and highlighted by band frontman Alistair Bundale’s gorgeous jangly guitars. Over the next couple of years they released a number of outstanding singles and an EP. One of their best songs was “Volcano”, which I reviewed in January 2019, and liked so much that it ended up ranking #43 on my Top 100 Songs of 2019 list. In early 2021, Alistair decided to continue Feather Weight as a solo act, and has subsequently released a number of fantastic singles, along with a stunning EP Permutations in March 2021. He followed a few months later with the wonderfully dreamy “Pack Your Shit Grimes”, a song I assumed was inspired by Grimes’ split with Elon Musk, but according to Alistair, touches on the “concept of the ultra rich investing and planning for their safe haven once the economic or environmental systems collapse.“

Now Feather Weight is back with another terrific new single “It Follows“, and I love it. It’s darker and edgier than many of his previous songs, with a bit of a 80s New Wave groove that makes for an exciting listen. Opening with sounds of grimy distortion, the song quickly erupts into a roiling soundscape of hypnotic driving rhythms, gnarly industrial synths, grungy bass, and a spellbinding blend of jangly and fuzz-coated guitars. Even Alistair’s echoed droning vocals have a gritty quality too, beautifully complementing the song’s haunting vibe. The song closes with the grimy distortion we heard at the beginning. As for the song’s meaning, Alistair says it’s essentially about “navigating the social construct and the feeling of alienation and isolation that that can lead to.” 

Connect with Feather Weight:  Facebook / Instagram

EXPRESS OFFICE PORTICO – Single Review: “Cosmic Joke”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews7 Comments

Formed in 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic, talented British five-piece Express Office Portico is comprised of Tara Freeman (lead vocals, keyboards), Billy Townsend (lead vocals, keyboards), Reuben Tobolewski (guitar), Ben Phipps (bass) and Olly Walton (drums). In cleverly naming themselves after the entrance to an old newspaper distribution office in the center of Nottingham, England, it follows that they would not be afraid to address all sorts of relevant and timely issues, including those related to mental health and emotional well-being. Their debut single “I Like it Weird”, released in late January 2021, dealt with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and how it can exacerbate feelings of jealousy over past lovers. Their second single “Mishmesh” explored the dangers of alcohol dependency, and how our coping mechanisms and compulsive tendencies can manifest themselves in toxic habits, while their third single “Then Wave” addressed abandonment and trust issues.

I really like their brand of dreamy synthpop with an edge, and have reviewed all three of their previous singles, which you can read by clicking on the ‘Related’ links at the end of this post. Now they’re back with their fourth single “Cosmic Joke“, which has a mellower vibe than their previous singles, as well as a more lighthearted message. They’ve provided a bit of background on their creation of the song: “‘Cosmic Joke’ came about by trying and failing to work out the chords to the 70s classic “I’d Rather Be with You” by Bootsy Colins. As big fans of artists immersed in RnB and funk like Erykah Badu, Yellow Days and Steve Lacy, we began thinking, how would an Express Office Portico track with these accidental chords sound? ‘Cosmic Joke’ evolved from there, with other influences such as Men I Trust, Beach House, Yellow Days, Rex Orange County & Mac Demarco adding to its creation. We love comedians that go on long rants that are more like philosophical monologues than stand-up. Bill Hick’s famous ‘It’s Just a Ride’ piece, being the perfect example. From here we decided on using this framing device for the track.

The title comes from an idea in philosophy that the entire universe and life in general is just one big joke. A trick played on humanity by existence itself, or God, or whatever you wanna call it. ‘It’s all a cosmic joke, nothing less and nothing more’. The lyrics are essentially about having an existential crisis and the utter confusion of being a conscious human in the physical world. Everyone is searching for meaning, but life is fundamentally meaningless. So, we might as well just laugh about it all, and try to enjoy it as much as we can! During the recording weekend, we booked ourselves an Airbnb to house us all. After a mild night of drinking, our guitarist Roo had a bit too much nicotine, which resulted in a fairly violent bout of sickness, starting with us all sat around the TV. Who knew too much nicotine could do that to you hey?“

The song opens with Olly’s assertive drumbeats, then silky keyboards enter along with Ben’s funky bassline and Reuben’s beautiful shimmery guitar as the music settles into a delicious R&B groove. In her sweet, lilting vocals, Tara cheekily croons “Sit back, relax. As the curtains draw, the microphone stands upon the stage floor. Out walks a comedian. The crowd we roar. Out walks a comedian, and they say ‘It’s all a cosmic joke, nothing less and nothing more. Your ticket’s already pulled, so you may as well just laugh and applaud’.” The song is filled with great moments like the quiet little interlude halfway through the song during which Ben’s funky bass really shines, and Tara and Billy’s wonderful harmonies in the final chorus.

With “Cosmic Joke”, Express Office Portico keep their perfect score of putting out stellar singles fully intact.

Connect with Express Office Portico:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Stream their music on Spotify / Apple Music / Soundcloud / deezer

Purchase on Bandcamp / Amazon 

Top 30 Songs for May 1-7, 2022

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's7 Comments

Harry Styles‘ delightful synthpop song “As It Was” takes over the top spot on my latest Weekly Top 30. Though I was not a fan of the boy band One Direction, I think that most of its members are pretty talented singers in their own right. That said, Harry Styles stands head and shoulders above the rest, and I’ve really liked a lot of his music as a solo artist. “As It Was” is the lead single from his forthcoming album Harry’s House, to be released on May 20.

In other chart highlights, entering the top 10 are Florence + the Machine‘s gorgeous “My Love”, which climbs five spots to #6, and Brandi Carlisle‘s haunting “Broken Horses”, which moves up four notches to #8. Two songs make their debut this week: “Synchronize” by German duo Milky Chance, and “That’s Where I Am” by the amazing American singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers.

  1. AS IT WAS – Harry Styles (2)
  2. DECEPTION – Hannah Reem & Noodle Beard (1)
  3. WILD CHILD – The Black Keys (4)
  4. WHAT, ME WORRY? – Portugal. The Man (3)
  5. LOVE BRAND NEW – Bob Moses (6)
  6. MY LOVE – Florence + the Machine (11)
  7. BLACK SUMMER – Red Hot Chili Peppers (5)
  8. BROKEN HORSES – Brandi Carlile (12)
  9. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (7)
  10. GIVE A LITTLE LOVIN’ – Jamie Alimorad (10)
  11. SLEEP – Gooseberry (14)
  12. CHASING TRAINS – HULLAH (15)
  13. WILD – Spoon (16)
  14. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (8)
  15. I’LL CALL YOU MINE – girl in red (9)
  16. CHEER UP BABY – Inhaler (13)
  17. I LOVE YOU – Fontaines D.C. (19)
  18. LA CIENEGA – Chief Springs (20)
  19. ON MY KNEES – RÜFÜS DU SOL (21)
  20. THE HURT WITHIN – Holy Coves (22)
  21. VIRGINIA (WIND IN THE NIGHT) – The Head and the Heart (23)
  22. DISTANCE – Mount Famine (24)
  23. BLOODRUSH – The Amazons (25)
  24. A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE – Weezer (26)
  25. 2am – Foals (27)
  26. CAVIAR – Two Feet (17)
  27. SHUT OFF THE LIGHTS – Bastille (29)
  28. MIRACLE MILE – Head Noise (30)
  29. SYNCHRONIZE – Milky Chance (N)
  30. THAT’S WHERE I AM – Maggie Rogers (N)