At the tail-end of 2012, Rick Springfield released the surprisingly chunky ‘Songs For The End of The World’, a near faultless collection of tunes that proved the Australian singer-songwriter was still capable of delivering the goods after four decades and change into his career. In the first quarter of 2016, he made a welcome return with ‘Rocket Science’, an album which, perhaps, although stylistically more fitting for a performer in his mid sixties, still has plenty of heart and could show many younger musicians a thing or twelve.
Tag Archives: country
LEWIS & LEIGH – Hidden Truths EP
Let’s not mess around here: fans of Americana will be absolutely smitten after just one listen to this EP from alt-country duo Lewis & Leigh. Their third release in under a year, ‘Hidden Truths’ has a heart wrenchingly gorgeous sound, bringing a perfect blend of country and folk, with a smidgeon of a Wilco-ish influence in the guitar department. Coming together from solo projects, hearing Alva Leigh and Al Lewis harmonise is to hear something natural and pure – voices that belong together as much as Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, as Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, and these four songs have the natural flow of performers who sound as if they’ve been playing together for years. The fact that at the time of this release Al Lewis and Alva Leigh had only been writing and performing together for a short time only makes ‘Hidden Truths’ all the more remarkable.
WORRY DOLLS – Burden EP
The pairing of Zoe Nichol and Rosie Jones is a special one, indeed. Armed with acoustic guitars, a banjo, a mandolin and a reasonable amount of stomp, the UK singer-songwriters bring a little backporch charm to the drab city suburbs. On this, their second EP, the vocal harmonies are consistently strong; their gift for rootsy hooks shining through each passing moment.
CRIMSON CALAMITY – All In The Cards EP
US singer songwriters Lauren Harding and Mallory Trunnell have already made inroads into solo careers as adult pop singer-songwriters: Harding’s brand of pop/rock on her 2011 release ‘Heart In a Box’ mixing piano tunes with occasional bluesy twangs, Trunnell’s more in keeping with Sara Barailles and piano pop. Together, recording as Crimson Calamity, the pianos are abandoned and various types of country music very much the order of the day.
GEOFF USELESS – Don’t Stop
After almost a decade churning out music for a cult following, US punks The Guts went on hiatus in 2009. Frontman and founder member Geoff Useless took the opportunity to embark on a solo career, resulting in an EP and this full-length offering, originally released on Livid Records in 2010. Considering Useless had also worked with The Queers and The Nobodys, ‘Don’t Stop’ is pretty far removed from being the punk (or even pop-punk) record each of his prior connections would ever suggest. But then, what’s the point in having an outlet for solo work if it’s just gonna mirror your “day jobs”?