When a promotional blurb suggests an artist is influenced by music as diverse as The Police, DJ Shadow and Claude Debussy, it’s hard to know what to expect. Is this record label hype? Is it a case of a performer clutching at straws, hoping that something will attract the potential listener? When it comes to singer songwriter Joe Geni, such wild claims…really aren’t so wild. His 2021 album ‘Doggerland’ offers a mad hybrid sound where the mood lurches all over the place. Just exploring the track ‘Superbloom’ in isolation, Geni takes the light Afro rhythms of Peter Gabriel tunes like ‘Mercy Street’ and fuses them with a bit of electronica, then adds a huge vocal that occasionally sounds like something David MacAlmont would turn into an absolute showstopper. Then, there’s the lengthy ‘Eyes Like The Ocean’ which bends what would’ve been a great pop-rock sound – akin to a moody deep cut from Sting – and adorns that with an almost trip-hop like atmosphere.
Tag Archives: art pop
Check out ‘Death of A Society Girl’ by Perry Blake
Perry Blake’s ‘Death of A Society Girl’ originally came out back in 2022, but the single is being promoted again as the flagship album of the same name. Moochin’ About Records clearly know they’re in possession of something interesting, but also seem aware that the track won’t be for everyone, hence the long promo cycle. This is the kind of song that needs time to grow.
TULIPOMANIA – Dreaming Of Sleep
The word “alternative” gets bandied around a lot in the music world. It’s used to describe all kinds of guitar based music – even stuff that’s found its way into the mainstream long ago – but there are still plenty of genuinely alternative bands out there. It would be hard to consider the dark moods of Decommissioned Forests, or the strange jazz meets metal noise of Kilter as anything but. Tulipomania are another act who’ve wilfully taken their own musical path within a truly alternative niche, rarely concerned about commercial success.