MICHAEL ADDISON – Resisting Fate

addisonSinger-songwriter Michael Addison’s fourth release – 2012’s ‘Blinding Shadows’ – was a misguided affair. Promoted as an alternative rock album with “raw, hard rock energy”, any potential it had was killed almost instantly by too much studio shine and use of an offensive amount of vocal filters – the very antithesis of the raw energy he was said to create.  Two years on, his eight track mini album ‘Resisting Fate’ doesn’t really resemble that previous release. Did Addison himself look back and feel the autotune abuse was a mistake?   Maybe he did…but it’s just as likely he used it as a fashion statement since that disc came at a time when autotune was rife among many forms of pop (and indeed rock) music.  ‘Resisting Fate’ is a warm and complete sounding release, with the good fortune of having lost the heavy filtering – at least a half-dozen of its numbers happy to stand on their own terms, not swamped by studio tinkering, or too heavily indebted to other artists.

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SONS OF THE EAST – Sons Of The East EP

Sons EPThis self-titled EP is the debut outing from Australian trio Sons of the East.  Self released, there’s a warmth in the material that suggests it’s been a while in the making.  Those who enjoy acoustic music are almost guaranteed to come away having heard something great, even if they don’t enjoy everything on offer.

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NATHAN EDWARDS – The Music of Stephen Foster

nate_fosterIn 2011, DIY singer-songwriter Nathan Edwards released his full-length album ‘New Season’.  While not always perfect, it featured music delivered straight from the soul, its pastel shades often gently uplifting.  For his second release, Nathan explores a few songs from the catalogue of Stephen Foster, a man credited as being the “Father of American music”.  Foster’s catalogue of songs is centuries old – and the weariness of age and the heartfelt nature of some of his lyrics are both well suited to Nathan’s own sense of warmth.

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