Stone Bear, which these days is to say David John, have/has just dropped a new single, namely "Long Way Round".

He has over the years and increasing numbers of gem quality releases, demonstrated the sort of identifiable areas of interest which are helpful in building a strong artistic identity (I refuse to say "brand"). These include songs about trees (often old ones) or the weather but also about that source of so many musical legends: The Road.

Taking previous single "Suitcase in My Hand" by the other hand, this one continues further down this highway (yes it's a long one and can tell so many stories) and on this occasion he addresses the length as a positive: giving extra time for reflection.

There is actually a good connection with his more overtly pastoral songs in the gentle sound: instead of the sense of weary trudging normally associated with the theme, he evokes much the same sort of mindful refreshment as those where he's lying beneath the boughs of a favourite tree.

We are a long way from the Chicago blues of the first Stone Bear songs: it's as if David has re-traced the steps of the blues pioneers and taken the opposite direction: going back to the rural styles they played before moving to the city. It's less a plea for a slower & more considered pace of life than a manifesto for one: ease up, don't rush through your days. Savour the journey as much as you anticipate the destination. Sound advice.

Does his sound shape his lyrics or is it the other way round? Songs like this which argue for the simple life must therefore adopt a similar arrangement & ones extoling the joys of nature need natural sounds. I don't think the "chicken  or egg" argument is worth pursuing here: the two aspects enjoy a symbiotic relationship in Stone Bear songs of this era and as you'll know from previous reviews, David goes for as much and no more than is necessary: voice yes, guitar yes and the comforts of his own home to capture them in. His technique is so good that he has no need for studio trickery or unnecessary instrumentation.

I imagine that, given the significant number of these acoustic, contemplative songs which David has written in recent years that a Stone Bear gig itself must be a very mindful occasion: I need to catch him again soon. As do you.

While corresponding with AJ Montague, the artist  who essentially  is Esore Alle, about their debut single "I Never Knew What I Wanted", I remarked that while I seem constantly drawn to the unique & less precedented, that in itself makes reviewing harder than it would be for the predictable and mainstream.

Fortunately they've more or less anticipated the needs of challenged reviewers by drawing up a Press Pack full of helpful citations, influences and descriptors. Since I'd rather not make myself redundant, I'll avoid simply reproducing it in full (which actually would do the trick quite nicely) but even as you watch me groping towards my own words, I'll lean on it periodically as it is simply too useful not to use.

Of course, as you'll have worked out already, they've pressed all the right buttons with me by deliberately evading any given genre and thus not hobbling themselves to anyone's expectations right at the start of their career.

Genre blanking isn't automatically synonymous with such equally desirable approaches as being transgressive or norm bashing but they do tend to make for regular bedfellows. "Drawing heavily on queer expression and theatrical flair" suggests however that this applies here.

You can't actually make out the sound of rulebooks being ripped up amongst the many others here, but it's clear that it goes on in the world of Esore Alle and one gets the impression that AJ moves through life seeking out such dubious constraints and then blithely doing the opposite to what they urge.

Consequently the song (which I'll say straight away, so you don't misunderstand, is really compelling & accessible) is idiosyncratically structured . They call it "melodic trauma" and as a methodology for ensuring emotional engagement it must be said that it's highly effective. You are repeatedly shocked into reactions: that they call the key changes "chaotic" gives you a flavour of what I mean. This is what music should be & what we need of it yet don't often get.

Unsurprisingly, the song is a "fan favourite at live shows" and given all I've said, I suspect that seeing the live performance is essential to extract the most emotional benefit: that's certainly one for my personal list.

There is an official video which must go someway towards providing hints of the visual elements (though it's not a performance one as such). You can find it at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNVkMe5BZ1Y

"I Never Knew What I Wanted" might just represent the plaintive cry of a first time visitor to an establishment catering for multiple fetishes and being bewildered by the diversity on offer. In that context the Scissors Sisters/Bowie nods make much sense.  On the other hand Kate Bush and They Might Be Giants send really distinct messages when also cited: don't expect anything in just one or two dimensions. There's plenty of glam & Weimar vibes but so much else too. When we are considering a "..harrowing exploration of trauma, identity, and mistrust…. and confessional lyrics" over simplification isn't going to cut it.

While I was writing this review, I was also chatting to a member of a band which had entered a competition and not won: the "explanation" given was that they were a "marmite act". Well I could say several things about that comment but personally I take it as an unintended accolade. If you aim for honesty in your songs, you will target respect from people: trying to ingratiate yourself isn't going to help. I think that description would fit most of those I praise in these reviews: they don't compromise & inevitably alongside the converts there will be those with huge comfort zones of the familiar that will be frightened by the unexpected & radical. It will probably be the case with Esore Alle but I don't get any sense of compromise in what I'm hearing & I suspect confronting complacency is on their agenda.

In addition to AJ Montague we need to namecheck co-writer Caitlin Jones and the musicians helping out on the song, namely Louise Bradbury (bass guitar) Joe Calverery (guitar), Luke Ellis (drums) and Toby Marriott (keyboards) plus producers Gavin Monaghan and Louise Russell.

Loophole may I think justly be regarded as the current dark horses of Coventry & Warwickshire music.

On one hand, people love them and their music: winners of "Godiva Calling" last year, they graced the Main Stage at Godiva Festival 2024 like it was their natural home & delivered a really well received set (check it out via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6H-PywGyg4)

We featured their song "Politics Killer" on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Thirteen' and the streaming figures via our Bandcamp site were phenomenal: it's already the most streamed of all 250 tracks we've shared with you across the fourteen albums to date.

However their overall public profile doesn't yet equate to this level of popular & critical acclaim. I hope you saw them at The Tin in February when they kindly played our fundraiser and where as usual they went down very well. However their live shows are less frequent than they hopefully will be: other factors of course being in play, not least the studies of the band's members: Nancy, George, Lucas & George.

Look out for them next on June 21^st at The Arches and July 12^th at the Allesley Festival

In the meantime, they've just put "Politics Killer" out as their debut single which should help spread the word: if its Spotify streams reflect the Bandcamp ones I mentioned then that will happen very quickly.

I'm delighted that this great song (produced by Mason Le Long who has worked with them for several years through the Live On Stage project organised by The Tin and Coventry Music) has now marked another milestone for them, which is great to report, though a "normal" review is a bit tricky in the context of a song most of you probably know already.

Loophole do however possess a commendable breadth of material: "Politics Killer" very much showcases the grittier end of this and as such is an excellent calling card for their edge and abilities at playing taut, economical excess-free music. Other tracks in their repertoire (as evidenced live) are more melodic and so as release follows release, you'll get to sample their many facets.

2025 has started quite quietly for Loophole after the triumphs of 2024 but this single I'm sure demonstrates their determination to build on these once the exam season is behind them

My emotional palette is always refreshed by a Lauren South concert but when she manages to put together a larger band, such as the one with whom she cut her debut album ‘Tiny Boat', it's an extra special treat not to be missed.

Thus, when she managed to find time in the packed schedules of both Ben Haines & John Parker to join her & her Donnelly & South comrade Keith Donnelly at Warwick Arts Centre today for a lunchtime concert, I was delighted to be able to join them. Since the event was billed as the Lauren South Trio, I can only call them probably the country's finest four piece trio. I stand by that.

With a set centred on that album with a few newer compositions (though like me you have probably experienced those already too), the performance suggested something that when I put it to Lauren afterwards, she certainly didn't disagree with. That proposition was that even despite the virtuoso talents of this band, the more they've played together, the songs have reached even higher planes.

One strong example would be "The Blue" (one of the post-album creations): I've heard it several times but never as rhapsodic as they performed it on this occasion (and since they played it at soundcheck, I got to hear it twice). It really is a sublime song & I did say to her that it would make a fine single: it is also one of Lauren's rare love songs which would have a broad appeal, even if, like most of her compositions, its roots lie in personal experiences and reflections: in this case the problem of distinguishing sea from sky.

Where the band really elevate the material is not just through greater experience playing it together but how they add deft touches throughout: not improvisation in the usual sense but little moments of inspiration: a bass figure here, a guitar harmonic from Keith or Ben going for one of his staggeringly immense repertoire of percussion tools & techniques.

And for a trio cum quartet, you do get a lot of instrumental combinations: while John sticks to his bass (and he has so many techniques to deploy via bow & fingers) & Ben his arsenal of options (though his core set up is actually very simple: it's the detail which makes the difference), Keith uses six, twelve & four string guitars at various points, Lauren sings solo, or with a guitar, or with a shruti box or else plays violin: with & without using the shruti box via a pedal. And none of this is a gimmick: all the combinations serve the songs.

The other thing I noted was the richness of the sound: not an adjective I've used about their music so far: which might be my previous failing, but since it occurred to me today, I think it's a development: certainly Lauren feels that the band feed off each other & that's her perspective on any changes I felt have occurred. Song tempi are now not precisely the same as recorded. That's one development. I also think that Lauren is bringing the lower end of her vocal range more into play to great effect. The other aspect I can only try and describe as an orchestral one: the songs are still generally "folk" in origin but given not only the violin, bass & drone but how the instruments are played is taking into more into what is usually described as the classical world. John's bowing towards the end of "The Blue" (for example) is like a ‘cello. Most of Ben's percussion is closer to orchestral than rock/pop/folk and a lot of Keith's guitar playing is less traditional accompaniment & more suggestive of fills and motifs from a wider range of instruments: not just what strings might play but woodwind too.

To cut to the chase, I entered the venue in one state of mind but left it in a higher one. Music can (and should) do this but these musicians are especially adept at the transformation.

I wish I could tell you when the next conjunction of the four members of the trio will be but I'm afraid I can't.

I can however steer you towards the Springboard Festival at the Criterion Theatre in Earlsdon where Lauren is playing on  Saturday 10^th May and Saturday 17^th  though tickets I believe are only available still for the latter (link via https://criteriontheatre.co.uk/tickets)

Today is the release day of the new Luke Concannon single "Stick Together": in fact his latest collaboration with Darius Christian.

As ever, Luke's care for others transcends the normal motives of songwriting, though with this one, a love for the planet & her nature is melded to that for her peoples: in his own words, "I was listening to the big oaks outside our Yurt home in Guilford Vermont early one spring morning, when I heard the song coming through ‘we've got one hundred years and then fires' I was thinking about how the trees might want to call us to change course to avert climate change and to live a good life. I opened a gig with it that week, and people straight away began singing the chorus"

As with all idiosyncratic writer/performers who have found & established a creative identity they feel comfortable inhabiting, I do find myself saying much the same things each time I review Luke's work: but they are truths & worthy ones and I'd prefer that he stick with them rather than depart from them to give me new angles.

One is that dialectic of Luke's wherein, as he says, his songs have sufficient simplicity that people sing along on their first hearing: his message is paramount and he's great at articulating this. The balance is the underlying complexity of the playing (and I'm sure Darius helps explore new subtle avenues to keep pushing his music forwards). You can sing Luke Concannon songs easily enough but singing them exactly like him let alone playing precisely what he plays is actually far from feasible. We're talking unexpected structure, unorthodox tempi, more complex chords than you probably think… but yet retaining accessibility. 

Obviously I bought into Luke, his music and beliefs long ago: I thoroughly endorse what he's singing here (although buying into all his lifestyle choices isn't for me: you won't catch me in a yurt myself anytime soon). It's a pity that he needs to say stuff like "We can take it so much higher, if we just stick together and stay together" when the power of community seems so obvious as does our own need to connect emotionally. Against this, he's saying this in the context of living in a nation wherein so many people seem to think it might be made "great again" via the media of bullying, intolerance and breaking communities up. To return directly to Luke "we are living in a time of great chaos and need more than ever to come together across difference to care for each other, and figure out what kind of world we wanna grow for our children."

The good news is that once again, the song seems potentially commercial enough to reach as wide an audience as it deserves: though of course preaching to the already converted (me, and I trust you) isn't what is required. The message needs to enter the ears and hearts of the currently flint-hearted and those intoxicated by the allure of hatred. That asks a lot of a song, but you can't fault Luke and Darius for effort. The good news is that an album by the pair is on the way: so watch this space for that.

"Stick Together" is, as Luke's work always is, positive and optimistic (he always scores higher in that regard than I often manage myself) and while far from shirking the "hard dark stuff" (he is an idealist, not a fantasist) the chorus accentuates the sense of joy to which his message can essentially be distilled down into. 

At 2000 today, Luke & Darius are launching "Stick Together" on Zoom: Luke's mentor Alastair McIntosh and wife Stephanie Hollenberg will be there too and together "will be singing/in dialogue with us about where music might really come from, and how we rise to the challenge of the times we live in": you can register to  join via this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XPlvnFUdT5enXt1mHct4Wg#/registration

My admiration of & respect for Ross Darby should be clear in what I write & post: my only concern being that I get too few occasions on which to do so.

This is a chance to do so, albeit not at all what I might have expected: nor perhaps what he would.

That's because he's come up with a song called "Sky Blue Army" which relates to Coventry City football team: you can find a video at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIWIFs75nKE

The inspiration is apparently that he has a family connection to the club.

As well as Ross' admitting that the subject matter is a departure for him, the music is totally unlike his normal style: but wholly appropriate for the theme.

Rather like Christmas singles, this sort of song exists outside the continuum wherein conventional reviewing can take place: it would be churlish to judge it on the same criteria I would his other tracks: I think one should suspend normal critical activity & respect him for a sally into the personal for a moment. It certainly comes across as heartfelt & frankly that's a quality I am swift to identify & praise when I usually review.

No doubt fans of the club will like it because they identify with its sentiments.

However I am looking forwards to hearing more from Ross especially as I gather that The Fallows are gearing up for live & recorded action: watch this space for that.

I know I've praised the recorded output of WorldSong, including their current album ‘Together As One: A Celebration of Community Singing' and you can find their single "Kaval Sviri" on the most recent edition of ‘Hot Music Live Presents', but you really do have to experience them live to appreciate their full glories.

I did just that this afternoon at the 2025 Earlsdon Festival & you may well feel that a packed & noisy Earlsdon Street was far from ideal for an a cappella choir but frankly I felt their set went down magnificently & judging by the crowd, that's not purely my view.

Yes, there are no instruments when they play. There were just three microphones which conveyed the many voices a bit further, but most singers were effectively off-mic. And the rapt audience meant that we could hear their every word.

The connection with the audience was therefore based upon the excellence of the performance. This, as listening to the record would have already shown you, involves complex songs in tongues not known to the singers using often unfamiliar song structures. However live you get much gesticulation which is impossible  to replicate on record and the audience was further engaged by being invited to contribute to this: and indeed to ululate as appropriate.

Musical Director Una May Olomolaiye also transcends her role in this environment, acting as MC and cheer leader, explaining the songs, enthusing the crowd & providing a highly mobile & charismatic visual focus unusual in a choir format.

The songs range in mood & theme yet overall WorldSong not only promote a sense of community among highly diverse and heterogeneous observers but also an overall sense of joy & bonding not necessarily related directly to the lyrics of every song. That the sun came out during their set may just be a coincidence but….

In a week when diversity & inclusion have received something of a battering, it was great to experience a rebuttal like this: there is power in unity & uplift in being exposed to different cultures. In a city proud of diversity, there really is no act with a repertoire of this breadth and the membership appears reflective of this too.

I recommend enhancing your enjoyment of WorldSong's music by catching them live: there next concert is on 24^th May at St Andrew's in Rugby (by candlelight too!) and I bet that indoors their impact is even more affective.

When I see glasses as half empty, I often wonder why obvious talent doesn't get its deserved recognition: that thought too often occupies my thoughts.

In lighter moments though, especially when I'm more patient, I do see gifted artists pick up popular & critical acclaim, just possibly not as quickly as I want them to.

One recent example is how Robert James Grey's debut single "This Town" has managed to gain both: and that includes factoring in that this is in effect a career launch which doesn't draw directly on the banked goodwill of his releases and performances under other names.

Building on this great start, his follow-up, "All Through Space" comes out tomorrow.

While its predecessor was warm &  welcoming in an intimate manner (what the Germans might categorise as ‘Heimeligkeit'), this latest one roams further afield (not that you really needed me to tell you that) yet critically starts in the domestic place we left him at the end of the last song.

This sense of continuity and moving the emotional story forward (it opens out too in shifting the emphasis from the first to second person) is fascinating: I've not really come across this outside the more formal concept albums.

It's obviously one of those "big picture" numbers too loving another "all through space, all through time" rather than within the confines of a single home.

What the song really drives home about his talents though are:

Firstly this is one talented pianist & singer: what he can do with little more than these two elements is astounding

Secondly few other artists project such intense emotions with such simplicity: and this so amplifies the fundamental truthfulness of all of his work.

I'd like to think that we are seeing Robert on the first couple of sections of a swiftly rising career trajectory. One might rue the long period of quiet, but if he spent it writing & honing material of this quality, then it was time very well spent.

You can catch Robert playing (hopefully this song) on May 23^rd at The Tin where is part of the lineup (alongside Monday Nights, What About Eric? and Creaking Twitch)  for our next fundraiser for the venue. Tickets via: https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/hot-music-live-presents-monday-the-tin-at-the-coal-tickets/14371513

If you are sensitive to finely & highly wrought emotional music, then you'll need an extra hankie on this occasion. Robert doesn't bring moisture to the eyes with sad songs (many can do that), he does it with ones full of love & hope like "All Through Space".

Out today from The Rollocks is their new single: "Sugarcane Tip".

Goodness knows how they managed to find the time to record it: they are playing so many gigs at the moment (and their drummer is in multiple other bands so presumably drums 24/7). They really are a most popular live band.

Nevertheless, they did obviously do so otherwise I'd not be writing this & you'd not be able to buy it. I trust you enjoyed their track "Yo' Mama" which we shared with you on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Ten' and which derives from their 2023 EP ‘Up the Rollocks'? Well this new one shares the swagger and to be honest, the strut also.

Rollocks tracks all rock so let's take that as read. Beyond that, there is a barrel load of self confidence which no doubt underpins that live appeal & which to their credit they manage to capture on record: not everyone can.

Self-described as "..a fat sugary track that sounds like big fuzzy guitars, dipped in sherbet.." I'd also suggest a taste of Southern Comfort as this sounds like Janis Joplin has elbowed Led Zeppelin's usual vocalist out of the way & taken over. It fizzes in addition to the fuzz and soars & snarls in the spaces in between.

If my description so far has been rather impressionistic, that might be because the whole song seems designed that way. It might be designed to evoke some sort of sugar rush equivalence. In that case it does its job effectively. Certainly the lyrics build that sort of picture though being fairly abstract in places, any sort of mundane narrative seems less likely than a more painterly exercise.

If you like low down classic rock which sets a scene and then leaves you to take your own brand of sensation and enjoyment from what they've places before you, then you'll love "Sugarcane Tip": the track which gives you the buzz without rotting your teeth nor promoting diabetes. I suspect you'll love the live performance yet more & I seriously doubt that you'll have long to wait before the next Rollocks gig comes along. They are certainly out playing on 31^st May for Ellipse Promotion at The Maudslay but I am not betting on concerts before then too.

Barely was the ink dry on my review of Duke Keats' single "Lost in the Internet" than he dropped the remaining 75% of the 'Post-Internet' EP: namely "Walking at 4am", "Rich Girl Wants" and "Monkey Brains". Things move fast in his universe: one perpetually gets an impression of more & more music of stunningly different aspects bursting to get out of him. Maybe he will end up breaking the internet by this method of  overwhelming it with his tracks.

The totality of the collection is intended as "..an audiovisual statement on existence in the digital afterglow—a world where memory, identity, and meaning are constantly in flux". Frankly do we now expect anything less from him? And it's virtually all by him too: from the sounds you hear to the artwork, though with guest vocals courtesy of George Tuson of Orphic "adding further depth to the sonic tapestry."

Of course Duke understands the diversity of his audiences & each song is fully accessible & enjoyable on its own merits if diving into conceptual profundities isn't your thing. Though I would say that if that's so, you're depriving yourself of half the enjoyment as well as failing to show him full respect for all the effort he's put in.

I don't know if Charlie Brooker is looking for soundtracks or even ideas for scripts for "Black Mirror" but if he is, giving the Duke a ring might be productive.

Duke does dystopias very nicely: if in a rather humanistic, optimistic way. For example "Walking at 4am" would in many other hands be a terrifying, paranoic track wherein the protagonist writhes in existential agonies. In his hands, the story is the same but we don't necessarily plunge down a well of despair. There are stereotypes for this narrative & Duke sidesteps them.

"Rich Girl Wants" lays a trap for the reviewer: dodging the Prince comparisons is essential for an article on Duke Keats which seeks to avoid stating the obvious: but he baits us here. In fact "seduction" sums this one up: not only trying to get us to use the "P" word but more generally it's him putting forth all his powers to create a seductive track: and finally because you realise how you've been led on when you hear what he's in fact singing about.

If Duke Keats was aiming primarily for commercial success (and he deserves it) then "Rich Girl Wants" makes a compelling case for single release. But I'm not sure he wants to compromise his art. The sheer variety of successive releases runs contrary to what a professional manager would advise him to go for in order to build a simple & consistent brand image. They'd probably tell him to ditch the high concepts too. But as all these songs are available on a "pay what you consider right" basis I think we know which side of the debate he aligns himself upon.

"Monkey Brains" neatly subverts any commercial potential of its predecessor by going full on experimental Duke Keats: just under two minutes of electronica.

Much as I respect & appreciate the more serious side of this artist, I also enjoy his sense of playfulness. No one should try & second guess the Duke: either from one EP to another or even within a single one. Mainstream audiences might need that homogeneity of sound to get their heads round artists, but this one has a savvy one who get that swerves & strange trajectories are his DNA.

I may have no idea what's coming next but I know it'll be damned good.

Things are evolving a little in my reviews of Noah Seleno singles. For starters my anguish that she doesn't release sufficiently often to meet the needs of her audience is being addressed: this morning's new single "Unkind" comes out only three months after its predecessor  "Regret/Forget". She's on a roll.

The second development is that her song is in many ways wholly consistent with past releases yet has moved closer to the material in subject & tone.

The ethereal nature of Noah's talents which I'm sure every reviewer defaults to at some point is tempered this time out by a descent (in theme) to nearer earth.

The poetic approach is still there of course, but the narrative is much more direct & unambiguous. Actual experiences are detailed in specific wording and we get the impression of unfiltered autobiography. That impression of profound personal truth in her songs has always been a defining attribute, but here we get to peer into aspects of concrete events rather than trying to discern them via a metaphysical filter.

The performance shifts in response: while still admirably simple & direct in arrangement & delivery, that sense of floating high in the ether one normally gets from Noah Seleno songs is replaced by an intimacy of ground level character totally appropriate to the song in question.

To me this demonstration of breadth of approach while still coupled to her highly individual style is all to the good: it means her other singles retain their qualities undiluted by any sense of revisiting old ground.

The exquisite emotional intensity is also still much in evidence: do you really need me to walk you through the lyrics of "Unkind"? Like the recent "If They Knew What You Did" by Izzie Derry, one can applaud the artistic inspiration but abhor the actual experiences the writer was put through by someone's actions in order to generate it.

Noah is a unique writer and performer who should be much more widely known: it's all very well considering her some sort of "hidden gem" to be enjoyed by the cognoscenti but really she deserves better and so does music like this: "Unkind", like her other work is flawless & utterly truthful. I defy anyone not to identify with it & to love it.

Out today is the latest Euan Blackman single "girl" (that would be his use of lower case not mine!) on Ripe Records.

He describes it as "kicking off a new era" though I think my reviews of his acclaimed EP ‘Thunderstorms' (and its component singles) have shown that he's been evolving into a new style for a little while now.

When I say "acclaimed" I am referring to critics as well as fans which is impressive (lots of people are becoming aware of him and his music, not just in magazines but national BBC stations too), though the consensus adjective (still) seems to be "introspective".

Well that sort of approach & his yen for nostalgic sounds seem to be Euan's defining characteristics as a musician and frankly I like artists who stick to the true articulation of their personality and values rather than chasing cheap fame: in fact a strong brand is pretty helpful in making one's mark.

However I don't find much introspection in "girl": it's his most direct & upbeat pop song to date and certainly lives up to his feeling that this is a milestone release. It of course doesn't at all preclude a return to introspection whenever he feels like it in the future.

This greater directness was a strand I found in the last few songs and while I praised the wispy and semi-buried vocals of his early singles, too much of one style, especially one which by its nature restricts access, is not the best long term strategy. This latest approach lets us in further as well as offering variety.

It's a breezy jaunty single and not especially suited to being played on "rainy road trips" as his previous work was. Even the cover photo (by Stu Price) is a change from the blurred, indistinct images he's used before. Check out too the backing vocals courtesy of Olivia Rebel.

With his single "NOTHING2U" Euan took the line that it was "…music designed to be turned up loud" and this fits the same design model. The "alt folk for kind folk" mission may still be in place: I'm sure that "girl" is intended for the ears of kind listeners, though the obvious folk sound is less to the fore.

We are definitely entering an era when Euan Blackman songs can be readily danced to. I spoke of his finding a "pop sensibility" in relation to the title track of ‘Thunderstorms' and this is presumably the key to this new chapter. It's not a paradigm shift as he's been edging this way for some time & I am confident that he'll bring his fanbase & critical friends along with him without the loss of folk purists (who can at their most extreme by a pretty stern lot): let's face it, he's carried me with him & I wish him very well with what has the attributes to being his commercial breakthrough.