Tag: France

LEWCA – Album Review: “Friday Night Rockstar”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews16 Comments

England-born, and now France-based, singer-songwriter and musician Lewca is one of the most creative, funny and irreverent artists I’ve come across, with a deliciously bawdy sense of humour. As he cheekily explains in his bio, “Lewca was born in a squat in Brixton, by age nineteen he was living in a squat in Paris, go figure… After studying fine art and dabbling in film, he started making music just before he was too old to die young. His influences range from class A drugs to expensive rum, and also The Clash, A$AP Rocky, Sleaford Mods, LCD Soundsystem, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Tom Waits…whoever is making decent music. He currently lives in Normandy, has three kids and a mortgage, and a semi-domesticated hedgehog named ‘Sonic’.”

Lewca’s been making music for years, and after being in a few bands “that fell apart for the usual reasons”, he decided to embark on his own music project as Lewca in 2018. Although he collaborates with lots of different musicians on his projects (most often ex band members or musicians he’s met on Twitter) his main partner in crime is S.O.A.P. (shorthand for Son of A Pitch), a Parisian composer, producer, drum & bass DJ and beatmaker he met when they shared a billing at a gig together in 2013. Their partnership grew from a shared love of wonky beats, British soundscapes and a healthy dose of humour, along with an “expectation of absolute world domination and unfathomable wealth, obviously”. They’re also both fervent players of Dragon Ball Fighterz, and if the music thing doesn’t pan out they’re considering pro gaming as a viable alternative.

Since 2018, they’ve released three EPs, which culminated in a colossal album Year One, released this past June, featuring all 17 tracks originally contained in the three EPs. In addition, the dynamic duo have been working for the last eighteen months on two more albums: Friday Night Rockstar, set for release on December 16th, and Boombap for Boomers, to be released some time in 2023. It’s the first of these, Friday Night Rockstar, I’m reviewing today.

The album features 13 tracks addressing such topics as the passage of time, personal doubts and demons, substance abuse, romantic love, and dreams that may never come true, expressed through Lewca’s honest and heartfelt, sometimes shocking, and often laugh-out-loud funny lyrics. The superb music and beats, composed by S.O.A.P. and influenced by the music they both loved while growing up, range from 80’s new wave and 90’s alternative rock to modern lo-fi indie pop and hip hop. Besides Lewca and S.O.A.P., additional vocals and/or instrumentals were performed by the artists Mondo Trasho, Victory Flow, Oh! Paulo, Chris James Willows, Ambre, Orange G, The JMC, Shark Star, Zar Acoustic, Ian Williamson, Ben Todd and Ben Samama.

The album opens with “Such a Cunt“, which I loved the moment I heard it. The lyrics are so wonderful I want to quote them all (but will control myself). It starts off with what sounds like Lewca clicking start on a tape recording of piano music while he addresses an audience from a stage: “Good evening. Thank you so much for coming out, ladies and gentlemen. It’s an honor. I love you so much. Hi mom. This is a song about cheese.” He than launches into song, admonishing us to live our lives to the fullest, but also try and be a nice person while doing our thing: “Done a lot of crazy shit in my life, but I’d do it all again. Dodged a bullet maybe once or twice. Played the fool every now and then. Hey, you, yeah you in the back, do you get what I’m trying to say? We’re gonna die, mate, that’s a fact, so let the chips fall where they may. But most importantly, stop being such a cunt!” The song has a skittering drum & bass groove, with wobbly industrial synths and sharp percussion, nicely accented by some colorful piano keys and delightfully twangy guitars. Lewca’s gritty vocals are wonderful, oozing with in-your-face swagger that’s a glorious mash-up of Mick Jagger, Joe Strummer and Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods.

Next up is the raucous title track “Friday Night Rockstar“, featuring British garage rock band Mondo Trasho. The lyrics are a humorous take on a guy who thinks he’d gonna be rock’s next big thing, except he’s been waiting for it to happen for years: “World famous in my neighbourhood. If I touch my dick, just assume that I’m touching wood. I could take Tyson, in his fucking prime. Two glasses and a bottle and I’ll make that bitch mine. Ain’t even made it. Already overrated. If a fuck was given mate, I never gave it. Since the late nineties, I’ve been sedated. Still ain’t got a deal, but it’s being negotiate./ They say I got million dollar mind. Shit I ain’t never made a dime. Killing it one weekend at a time. I’m a part time punk, but when I’m drunk I’m a rockstar. Bitch, I’m a rockstar. Friday night rockstar.“

“Harmony Korine” is a poignant but amusing look back at his childhood that seemed more innocent. To a bouncy new wave groove, Lewca sings “My generation, born in the 80s, lived in a world that didn’t give a fuck mate. The Iron Curtain, the Iron Lady, and my old man chain-smoking in the car with the windows up, and the kids in the back with no seat belts on./ We were poor, like the kids next door. It was my childhood, and I wished for no other./ The world that I knew ain’t coming back. Gotta try and face the facts, and get a move on./ Guess we ran out of time, cuz we ain’t kids no more. And Harmony Korine is like 50 now.”

One of the many things I love about the album is that every song sounds completely different, surprising us as each new track unfolds. “A Million Things” has an endearing, lighthearted groove, with quirky, carnival-like synths and Lewca’s alternately gruff and playful vocals as he sings about some of the shit that’s bothering him, apologizing that he “may be an asshole, but it ain’t by design.” He expands on this theme on “Everyday Struggle“, bemoaning the drudgeries of making a living to a rousing trip hop beat: “Six in the morning, I’m at the train station. Every damn day I take the same destination. Gotta get to work, I gotta pay them bills. Pay for them nappies and them cheap ass thrills. Nine hour shifts all day on your feet. Five days a week just to make ends meet. It’s hard labor, yet I ain’t done no crime. I’m selling my life, one day at a time. Oh lord, it’s an everyday struggle.”

“Forget My Name” is a beautiful, deeply affecting track about the idea of success, and that even though you’re at rock bottom, you’re never going to stop chasing that dream: “I’m gonna make, I can fuckin’ take it. Man I’m on a roll now. I’m the king of rock’n’roll now. Don’t forget my name.” Though I love Lewca’s gruff, melancholy vocals, the highlight for me are the stunning soulful vocals by Maryland-based transgender artist Victory Flow. Musically, the song features gorgeous intricate guitar work, somber piano keys, and achingly beautiful notes from a baby trombone.

One of my favorite songs (out of an album full of favorites) is “Incredible“, featuring added vocals by Chris James Willows and Ambre. Over a languid, drum and bass-driven groove, Lewca cheekily raps about his ‘I don’t give a fuck’ approach to music: “I’m at a party and I’m off my face. Falling around, I’m all over the place. High as fuck, I just have to sing. Can’t contain the diva within./ People let me know they ain’t digging the flow. But now I got the the microphone, I ain’t never letting go. I hope you got a sense of humour, turn up the fucking boomer. I don’t give a fuck If I’m ruining the song. Got a mic in hand this is where I belong. Anyway mate, these drugs are way too strong. Ain’t got a fucking clue what the fuck’s going on.” Then we hear an adoring girl, sung by Ambre, croon “You’re so wicked baby, loving your song. Gonna listen to ya all night long“, to which he replies “You’re gonna hear me baby all night long” followed by Chris James Willows’ chorus of “I feel incredible, I feel fucking awesome.” I love it!

The great songs keep on coming, and by now I’m thinking that Friday Night Rockstar might just be one of my favorite albums of the year. “The Love Within” is a hilarious love song that will never get played on the radio. To S.O.A.P.’s deliciously funky dub step beat, Lewca croons to his woman “I only wanna see you smile. I’d drive a thousand fucking miles. Girl I got you under my skin. I need to feel the love within.” But then he gets very sexually explicit in his adoration for her as he raps “I love looking in your eyes when you suck my dick, and listening to your sigh when I licked your clit. When I’m up between your thighs, when I cum on your tits.”

The next few songs touch on the highs and lows of rock stardom. On “Radio Gigolo“, Lewca sings of his dreams of becoming a huge star with a hit song, and willingness to sell himself out to get there: “One day they’ll play my song on the radio. They’ll play it all day long on the radio. I’ll feel like 10 feet tall. Big shots will take my call./ One day I’ll sell myself like a gigolo. I’ll be like someone else I don’t even know. So hungry for fame, I’ll even sell my name, for a spicy chicken wing on some TV show.” Opening with words spoken in French by S.O.A.P., “Golden God” transitions into a trap song with Lewca rapping about how his identity has been subsumed by his rockstar persona: “I’m a golden god, ex officio. Least that’s what I’m told. You can see it all in the video./ Guess I must have lost my mind somehow, somewhere along the line. Take a look into my eyes, mate, I’m not there./ I guess I’m strange mate, yeah I’m all over the place. I’ll keep on being strange until they turn out the light.”

Lewca lets loose on “A Song“, a wonderfully frantic and trippy punk song with a bit of an East Indian vibe, thanks to what sounds like a sitar. He rapidly raps through a litany of grievances, with the recipients of his complaints telling him to “write a fucking song about it“. He really channels his inner Mick Jagger on “I Fell in Love With a Serial Killer“, which sounds like a song the Stones forgot to record. I love the rousing rock’n’roll groove, and the guitars and percussion are fantastic. Album closer “Smoke in the Air” is wonderful too, with a rapid drum-bass groove, highlighted by wobbly synths, jangly guitars and skittering percussion. Throughout the album, I’ve been blown away by S.O.A.P.’s amazing beats and instrumentation, and this song nicely showcases his impressive talents.

I don’t what more I can say about Friday Night Rockstar that I haven’t already written, except to say that I absolutely love it! Lewca and S.O.A.P. have really outdone themselves here in the creation of a unique and brilliant album, for which they should be quite proud. The various artists who contributed vocals and/or instrumentals to the project must also be commended as well.

You can pre-save Friday Night Rockstar on one of these platforms

To learn more about Lewca, check out his Website

Connect with him on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok

Stream his music on Spotify / Apple Music / Soundcloud

Purchase on Bandcamp

DAN SZYLLER – Album Review: “The Celestial Immigrant”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews9 Comments
Album artwork by Sumit Roy

Dan Szyller is an imaginative and earnest Brazilian singer-songwriter and musician currently based in Metz, France. Born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he also spent time living in the U.S. and Israel before emigrating to France, and those life experiences led him to write and record songs for his debut album The Celestial Immigrant. Dan says “It’s the story of many travels I have made and places I have been in my life, mostly as an immigrant.” The album, written and recorded over a six month period earlier this year, was released on Apple Music and Spotify on July 20th. For recording of the album, Dan played guitar and sang vocals, Fabien Pilard played additional guitars, bass, keyboards and sang backup, and Meriem Rezik played drums.

A lifelong lover of music, Dan’s songs are influenced by some of his favorite bands like The Doors, Iron Maiden, King Crimson and Pink Floyd. These influences are readily apparent on the opening title track “The Celestial Immigrant“. With its expansive, moody soundscapes, highlighted by a vibrant blend of jangly and psychedelic guitars, it sounds like a long-lost Pink Floyd song. The lyrics, about a young boy hurtling through outer space toward the Milky Way, seem to be an allegory for Dan’s well-traveled, sometimes beautiful and perhaps at times chaotic, childhood, being repeatedly moved without his consent to several different countries, in search of a better life: “Sent away into the darkness. No warnings were given, the baby. In the wake of the night. The celestial immigrant is on his way, in the Milky Way. Will he ever make it? The stars are watching him—riding the neon wave. Will he ever make it? Will he find new home? All the forgotten faces, all part of a strange dream somehow. All the beautiful places, The journey of the sacred moon-child.”

On the grunge-flavored “My Road“, Dan seems to ponder the fleeting impermanence of life: “Life passes by so fast; old pictures and you’re gone. The Crossroads is coming. Another drifter’s story.” And on the optimistic “Summer Kiss” he sings of the joys of summer, and how people and nature come alive with activities and romance: “The birds are calling, the people will wake. The smell of grass, the children that play. The night is falling, the feast will begin. A man is hunting, a girl is the prey.” The song features some great reverby guitars and 60s-flavored organ.

Some of the progressive influences from bands like King Crimson and Pink Floyd are strongly evident on the next three tracks, with meandering melodies and fascinating instrumental flourishes. On “The Believer” Dan sings of being a world traveler, in search of a better life: “I can see a land of riches. / The howling winds of freedom, my life and blood astray. I dream of a paradise beyond the clouds. I read, the signs are so evident now. Believe, the blind shall see. I am away. I am a troubadour. I have many stories to tell.” His vocals, while not particularly powerful, are emotive and heartfelt, conveying just the right amount of passion and fervor when he sings.

On the dark and dramatic “King’s Hall“, he uses medieval fantasy metaphors to describe what could be the plot of a Game of Thrones episode: “Inside the King’s Hall, love and jealousy. Blades are held high! The old man is gazing from his throne. A lifetime before his eyes.” I’m not quite sure what the story in this song has to do with the album’s overall theme, but it’s an intriguing track nonetheless.

On the introspective and bittersweet “Sunday Again“, Dan wistfully sings of being at a low point in his life, feeling bored and alone, and missing those he’s left behind: “Looking out the window. A quiet street, no life at all. The rain that falls each day. The fog that hides the dawn. Sitting on a couch, I think of her. Could I fall in love once more? My imagination is playing games with me. Happiness seems so far, so lost.” Musically, it sounds almost like two different songs melded together, with the first, more grungy segment ending just after three minutes, and the second segment having a more relaxed vibe, with some great reverby and distorted surf guitars. On this segment, Dan seems to have come to terms with his loneliness, finding solace in his music: “It’s Sunday, I’m free again. In a corner, playing my guitar. La La, La La La.“

The final track “Interstellar (Voyager 1)” is a captivating instrumental piece, with more of those great reverb-drenched guitars we’ve heard on several of the album’s songs, accompanied by spacey atmospheric synths that beautifully convey images of traveling through outer space. The only vocals we hear are Dan’s spoken words briefly reciting a description of the Voyager 1 space probe that was “launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun’s heliosphere.” The description is taken from Wikipedia, which he cites on his album liner notes, and includes a statistic of how long the space probe has been in operation “Launched 16 days after its twin Voyager 2, Voyager 1 has been operating for 44 years, 9 months and 12 days as of June 17, 2022 (now 45 years, 1 month and 6 days as of today, October 12, 2022). The track brings the album’s celestial theme full-circle, with an overriding message – to my mind at least – that we’re all travelers on this planet, which itself exists within a much greater universe that’s beyond our comprehension.

The Celestial Immigrant is an ambitious and fascinating work, and an impressive debut for Dan Szyller. His creativity, imaginative songwriting and strong musicianship really shine on this very fine album.

Connect with Dan: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

Stream his music on Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon Music

ALAIN DORRA – EP Review: “Pelican Spirit”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews9 Comments

Alain Dorra is a French musician and composer who creates a unique brand of electronic music, featuring his terrific guitar work in a starring role. His influences include such acts as Tangerine dream, Ashra, Ronny Jordan, Morcheeba, Mahavishnu and Soft Machine, as well as early Pink Floyd and Scandinavian jazz. He’s released quite a bit of music over the past three years or so, and his songs have been played on radio stations across Europe and the UK, including Deep Kulture, WIM radio, PRYSM radio, Décibel radio, Sword UK radio, Radio Three D. and Groover, as well as in London and Paris clubs.

At the end of May, Alain released his latest EP Pelican Spirit, featuring four relatively short instrumental tracks with a total run time of just under eight minutes. But what the tracks might lack in length, his deft guitar playing and the variety of sounds and moods of each track more than make up for it, resulting in a wonderfully engaging little collection of songs. “Mystical Teapot” kicks things off with a thumping EDM beat that immediately has our hips in motion, making it a perfect tune for those sweaty nights at the club. Alain’s shimmery guitar work is fantastic, finding a sweet spot between jangle and funk.

“Blue Desert” has a hypnotic deep house groove, with fascinating funky guitar notes that almost sound at times like horns. As it’s title would suggest, “Galactic Heart” has a darker, more spacy vibe, thanks to it’s strong pulsating beat and funky, psychedelia-tinged guitars. Alain’s guitar prowess really shines on the contradictorily-named “Short Eternity”. His guitar work here is truly exquisite – all jangly and bluesy, and soaked in reverb. The track’s languid, jazzy vibe and otherworldly synths are the perfect accompaniment to the amazing guitars, making this a standout track for me. But truth be told, all four tracks are great, so give this a listen!

Here’s the EP on YouTube:

And Spotify:

Connect with Alain:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

SOMEHOW – Single Review: “Someday”

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Reviews6 Comments

For the first time on this blog, I shine my spotlight on Paris, France, to Erwan Pépiot, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who goes by the artistic name Somehow.  He released a self-produced debut album The Desert of Wasted Time in 2016, receiving positive reviews in numerous French indie webzines. In June, he dropped a new album Hidden Memories on Toolong Records, also to wide acclaim both in Europe and the U.S., and has just released a beautiful new single from the album, titled “Someday.”

Somehow’s sound can be described as somewhere between Joy Division and Belle & Sebastian, with a vocal styling reminiscent of Morrissey or Ian Curtis. He wrote, recorded and mixed Hidden Memories in his own home studio, and was assisted by Aurélie Tremblay, who provided backing vocals and some fine cello work.

Somehow

“Someday” is a sublime pop song with a folk sensibility. The dominant feature is the layered nimble acoustic guitar work that goes from gentle strumming to jangly and swirling riffs. A beautifully-played melodica adds a soothing yet rich sound, backed by subtle bass and percussion. It all makes for an upbeat, incredibly pleasing listen, though the lyrics turn a bit darker toward the end of the track. With his warm, smooth vocals, Somehow earnestly sings of moving on in the hope of finding peace of mind and a better life one day, only to realize there’s no running away from your problems:

Oh it’s time to pull up stakes and become a drifter again
Someday, someday, we’ll have a different state of mind
A different way of living
And some way, someday we’ll find a different style, other ideas to stand for

Our surrounding sky is falling
The surrounding sky is falling apart, there’s nowhere else to go

Connect with Somehow:  Facebook / Twitter

Stream/purchase his music: Bandcamp / Soundcloud / Spotify