Taking a side-step from the relatively accessible English language material that filled their 2023 album ‘Discordia’, ‘Lille Flamme’ showcases Perpacity’s multi-national heritage by presenting songs in Danish. The release also feels markedly different in its choice to share a couple of spikier arrangements, which sometimes gives the English-Danish duo’s work a darker and more intense quality. These factors mean the material is possibly geared a little more towards those who are already familiar with Perpacity, but you certainly couldn’t accuse them of merely repeating themselves and adopting a safe and formulaic approach to their art.
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LUNISON – Fakepink
Lunison’s debut EP ‘See Me As A Friend’ – released in 2024 – presented five tracks where a rock sound was twisted into some very interesting shapes. Its key cuts showed how varied the band could be: ‘Name 3 Songs’ managed to open with a riff that mixed garage rock and an almost post-grunge dirtiness, only to turn that on its head with a huge, melodic chorus full of ringing guitars sounding like a throwback to a great Gin Blossoms tune; ‘Smile, Cruel World’ borrowed from a couple of The Black Keys’ more groove-centric numbers, but added a more melodic vocal, again, calling back to a world of 90s pop-rock sounds, and ‘Velcro’ introduced a reverbed, 50s guitar twang in places, which set against a pumping bass and harmony vocals ended up sounding like a funky take on something from Arctic Monkeys ‘AM’.
R.M.F.C. – Ecstatic Strife / Golden Trick
Following a handful of singles and EP’s, Australia’s R.M.F.C. finally released a full length album at the end of 2023. Although ‘Club Hits’ didn’t feature as much raw sounding material as ‘Television’ (a highlight from 2018’s ‘Hive’), its collection of short and sharp workouts made for great listening.
HIGHWAY QUEEN – Extendead Play EP
On their 2022 long player ‘Bitter Soul’, Finnish metallers Highway Queen very much flew the flag for a traditional approach. The album’s eight songs drew influence from a mid 80s Iron Maiden, with galloping riffs and twin lead guitars, from Michael Schenker via a very European sense of bombast, and a couple of Scandinavian hard rock rock acts from more recent times, which certainly helped their shamelessly old fashioned sound retain a pleasing sense of melody. Against their often familiar sounding riffs, vocalist Virpi Kääriäinen shared a strong vocal, and despite sometimes sounding a little buried within the band’s studio arrangements – at least on the faster numbers, the Whitesnake-esque title cut allowed for more clarity – it was obvious she had the kind of talent that would carry itself well in the live setting.
CHIMPAN A – The Air That I Breathe / Karl’s Song
Over the years, Albert Hammond’s ‘The Air That I Breathe’ has been recorded by numerous artists. The Hollies’ recording from 1974 remains its most famous incarnation, but dig through the archives and you’ll discover other notable versions from Dana Gillespie, Judy Collins, AOR band Alien, Olivia Newton-John, Swedish pop band The Tuesday Girls (latterly The Tuesdays), and even Hank Williams, Jr. It seems to be one of those tracks that never really goes away, but few have breathed as much new life into this well worn number than pop-prog collective Chimpan A.