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Stay Sane (ft. Courtney Jean) by Devin Farney

Moataz Gwaily
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Stay Sane (ft. Courtney Jean) by Devin Farney

The San Francisco-based recording artist/composer/songwriter Devin Farney is really good at what he does. What he does is a unique and genuinely pleasing strain of melodic Pop that’s gentle, accessible, equally interesting, and thought-provoking in a smart way; a difficult and rare formula to achieve. 

His fantastically produced new album ‘Is/Was’ is a triumph in gentle, well-written pop gems. ‘Stay Sane’ is one of the album’s tracks, clocking in at less than 3 minutes in length, this tune is an acoustic guitar-driven piece of pop-folk. The immaculate vibes are delivered courtesy of a rich synthesizer line that leads the way from the background. The foreground is dominated by the strummed acoustic guitar, the gorgeous chord progressions, and melodies that are equal parts colorful and full of melancholy. The lyrics are touching, and sweet while the pace of the music is hypnotic and soothing, such a beautiful piece of work.

This is the second song that I’ve had the pleasure of writing down my thoughts on for Devin Farney, and the second time he has left me feeling a gentle feeling of calmness through his chill compositions, and I want it to be far from the last. 



Ocean Family by The People Versus

Hazem Mahani
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Ocean Family by The People Versus

Drawing their influences from tales and myths and mixing them with their diverse musical influences is how The People Versus crafted their unique sound. With lyrics inspired by the story of Achilles and Patroclus from the perspective of Achilles’ mother Thetis, they dropped their latest single “Ocean Family” on the 20th of July 2022 as a result of their second collaboration with award-winning studio Upcycled Sounds, so let’s see how it goes.

“Ocean Family” changed my mood 180 degrees once I pushed play, its easy fluid guitar melody, bright guitar tune, and groovy chilling bass instantly put me in a good mood. Vocalist Alice Edwards effortlessly takes the song to a whole new level with her warm vocal melodies and the chorus vocal harmonies were totally on point and went perfectly with the flow. It has a sweet fluid dynamic yet simple structure with guitar licks breaking its steadiness and an outro that reminded me of old-school art rock and psychedelic gems. 

“Ocean Family” is an easy-going sweet tune with beautiful melodies and some cool laidback guitar work. It has a smooth flow that carries you softly throughout the whole song from intro to outro and easily makes you play it over and over again. Looking forward to more from The People Versus, cheers

Interview With Oakley Grenell

Sarah Elzanaty
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Interview With Oakley Grenell

Multi-talented producer, Oakley Grenell, has had a really awesome comeback since 2020 and released a new track, “Flavour,” on the 6th of May with slamming beats collaborating with ”Fyah Roiall.” We have a chance to interview this beast mode beats creator about his music career and how he makes those tempos work for the listeners with his choice of music and writing the lyrics.

  • Tell us more about your journey in the music industry. You released a track in 2014, and there were no releases until 2020. What held you back in between those years?

The last album I released was called ‘The Deep’ and that album featured vocalists on every track. Up to that point I had released an album a year since 2003, so I needed a break. Between 2014 and 2020 I got back on my beat-making grind and got stuck in a ‘trap’ so to speak. I really got into making beats around 70/140bpm and went down the trap rabbit hole being inspired by producers such as Troyboi, RL Grime, Party Favor, Hudson Mohowake, and Flosstradamus.

  • How did 2020 influence you and get you back to producing music?

The 2 six-track EPs I released in 2020 and 2021 was both a buildup of tunes that I had made since the last release. I try to group the songs, so they flow together stylistically. Eg. The ‘Style Dem Ripe’ EP was more dancehall influenced, whereas the ‘Strictly Niceness’ EP was more hip-hop/trap based.

  • Who is the artist that inspired you the most during your work with them?

Fyah Roiall was definitely the most honed at his skills. He did maybe 2 takes and was like ‘that’s it. That made me think I need to step up my beat making productivity and the time I spend creating. Rider Shafique also came through with the goods on the tunes ‘Strictly Niceness’. I specifically asked for him to write about a theme and he perfectly encapsulated it with style, vibe, and tone. Legends, both of them!

  • What do you usually do to get inspired? Is there a certain ritual you start before creating your beats?

I love to go out to live music, DJ shows, or festivals, usually, that inspires me to get back in the studio, after hearing something new and fresh. The thought of collaborating also inspires me to sculpt specific tunes for vocalists.

  • How do you usually meet the artists you collaborate with?

Back in New Zealand I am kind of known in the underground scene so it’s not really a problem enlisting NZ vocalists or MCs. Some are friends of friends, and some I approach via management, if internationals are touring, I might contact their team and reach out with a dropbox full of beats to choose from.

  • Tell us which music you’ve produced that you had fun with while making it. Can you tell us more about it?

All my beats hold a special place in my catalog. Usually, if an idea moves me I will keep working on it, whether that be turning the lights, closing my eyes and imagining I’m on the dance floor, or performing it on stage. The fun lies in the creation and what I think can be added to it as the possibilities are endless. The excitement is usually the addition of textures, synth, or bass movements, thinking about who would be able to ‘ride the beat’ the best. ‘Flavour’ was fun in the fact that it’s really an Atlanta-inspired Hip-hop vibe with the bass line playing the flat 13 note which is kind of uncommon and gives it an uneasiness. When Fyah Roiall chose that beat I knew he would bring a completely different spin to it.

  • Which track that you produced is close to you and why is that?

‘Why’ is the opening track off the Strictly Niceness EP and it really is a sparse, broken-down emotional track. The melancholic chord progression and melody I feel are some of my best work. The only sample lyric is ‘Why’ and it relates to how I was questioning my actions, and thought patterns during the pandemic. In the beginning, it’s a slow Trap hip hop beat, but I love the switch up to double time as this harkens back to my First EP from 2001 which was really Jungle-inspired.

  • Who are the artists you would like to collaborate with in the future?

I would love to collaborate with King Kapisi, Che Fu, Million Dan, Rodney P, What What, Miss Banks, Stylo G, Young Buck the list could go on and on. . . .

  • What got you into making music? Tell us how you started.

My father is a musician since the age of 19 so we were exposed to music since birth. My parents also organized Music festivals on our family farm, so every summer was a huge party with lots of different musical styles being performed.

  • Are you planning to go on live tours? Where would you start?

I’ve lived in Melbourne for 12 years so normally I head back over to New Zealand over the 6-week Summer holiday and do around 25 shows be it either solo guitar and vocals, band work, or Dj-ing. I’m currently putting together this yearly pilgrimage which I have not been able to do in the last 2 years, but I need to start incorporating Australia as part of the tour. If anyone in Europe needs any slots filled at venues or festivals over your summer months, hit me up : )

  • Let’s talk about your brand new track, “Flavour,” that was just released. What was it like to create it? Did anything surprise you about the overall process? Any unexpected challenges?

Some beats will sit in a Dropbox for years until the right vocalist comes along. Sometimes the thought of a collab will get certain beats finished and I try to leave a lot of room for me to mold the beat or instruments around the vocal, so it sounds more like a collaboration and not an MC ringing 16 bars in for a paycheck. I love it when I am actually in the studio at the time of record because then I can really become a record producer, suggesting specific deliveries, extra BV’s, and extra takes to be able to have multiple backup vocals that I can pan left and right. It just makes the end product that more satisfying knowing I have injected all my of my creative ideas into it and exhausted all musical avenues and possibilities

  • What sparked the idea for “Flavour”?

To be honest, the best idea was inspired by a beat from Wiz Khalifah. I was at Open Air Fraudenfield Festival in Switzerland and Wiz was one of the headliners. I didn’t know any of his work and to be honest, a lot of it was ‘sing songey’, but there was one tune that just blew the rest away. I can’t remember the name but when the band came in over the top of the Dj it was epic. I just wanted to emulate that heaviness and energy at a Trap tempo, and Fyah brings that lyrical wordplay plus his tone and delivery are relaxed but also so confident.

  • When was that first “Oh shit” moment when you realized that music was going to pay off for you?

One of these moments was when I received my first cheque for some of my tunes being placed on a TV show, then they kept using my songs for the following 2 to 3 years, and these payments funded my next album projects. Another one was I had just finished my 3 year Jazz Guitar Degree securing a scholarship and didn’t know what avenue to go down for a day job then I realized that I wanted to be involved with music in every aspect, so I became a teacher – to share my love of music, inspire others to be involved and also we get great holidays so I can also use that time to tour and work on music projects.

  • What are the hopes and fears for the future?

My hope is that I get the next 3 album projects completed in the next 5 years. A fear is that I feel streaming has taken the value out of music in the fact that everything is so disposable and ‘single’ based.

Flavour by Oakley Grenell

Sarah Elzanaty
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Flavour by Oakley Grenell

Based in London, the producer, Oakley Grenell who’s been dropping really awesome beats since he started his career in creating music. He dropped a new track this year on the 6th of May with the amazing track “Flavour,” which got people badly hyped.

Looking into Oakley’s latest inventions, he produced this piece “Flavour” with the reggae rapper “Fyah Roiall,” which gave the beat a really buzzing voice throughout the song. It’s written by Oakley and Brandon Wedderburn, making you vibe to the flow of the tempo.

Oakley released a lyrical video of “Flavour” on the same day with really banging fonts that give out a really stunning vibe and go perfectly with the lyrical vibe the words give.

Oakley shows a great deal of talent in using his sick beats to hype up the listeners for a long time, and it seems that all the artists with whom he collaborated are having fun in the making of the music.

Oakley is known to many different reggae artists as he loves making music and every track he drops is different from the last in a way that his fans are excited to hear.

I can’t wait to listen to more of Oakley’s dope releases. Because, I kept on listening more and more to his work and started to vibe to it while working, which got me into a totally different mood and I vibed in with my dark shades to the beat.

Roses by Hannibal

Moataz Gwaily
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Roses by Hannibal

Hannibal’s Roses is a sensual musical trip that aims high but falls somewhere short of its ambitions.

Hannibal is a Floridian musician and composer whose unique brand of R&B is chill, and sophisticated, and features a variety of musical flavors and cultural influences. Roses is part of his debut album, titled MHP. Featuring artists and producers from Austria, Peru, and more, Hannibal is a charismatic musician who uses this varied palette of collaborators to further his musical achievements.

Roses in an R&B slow-burner that doesn’t seem to get fully cooked in time before it ends. Features Hannibal’s distinctive singing in the forefront and center, surrounded by a swelling synth that sparsely plays the chords, moody, sizzling and atmospheric, but also a little too empty. The beats are also minimal and fractured, working more as a musical element to amp up certain lines instead of as traditional percussion. The melodies are also simplistic and tend to get repetitive along with the repeating synth line. 

Hannibal’s Roses is a song that was afflicted by one or two bad decisions. The strange drums that take the song nowhere and the synth that sounds way too dynamic for what it actually plays. I’ll be on the lookout for Hannibal’s future releases, as his distinctive voice, lyricism, and songwriting skills only need a more cohesive production with an actual vision to create sublime late-night, chill R&B.

The Reason by Ben-J

Ahmed El Tahan
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The Reason by Ben-J

Ben-J The artist from Switzerland, Lausanne makes this revolutionary statement in his debut single, titled ‘The Reason’. He leaves us free to accept his presence in the vast world of music.

“The Reason” is a song with special music inspired by ELECTRONIC POP, and a special theme that revolves around rebirth, self-acceptance, and the urge to be creative.

Ben-J manages to put together a wonderful blend of electronic elements and energetic pop rhythm, you feel like you are hitting the ground with your feet and singing along with Ben-J simultaneously, and in the background, the electronic music elements explode as if you are in a multi-dimensional music space.

Ben-J’s voice supports this journey and attracts attention to make your mind float with it. His voice is varied and changing and leaves a frenetic, psychedelic-charged rhythm to feel, swinging between slow and increasing beats and making pops with the music, only to find the song in your head.

Ben-J will continue his journeys through the EP through which we will pass with him from darkness to light, seeing diverse social and personal issues such as violence, abandonment, and paralysis driven by emotions such as maturity, sensitivity, and a sense of responsibility. It contains pop-rock music with some electronic elements, as we heard in “The Reason”.

Ben-J said of his new album, “Music is my passion. It runs in my veins and my bones. This release symbolizes a part of me, and I consider myself lucky to be able to share it. I hope it gives strength, hope, and courage to everyone who hears it.”

“The Reason” can be considered the starting point of a new star in the music sky and the birth of a galaxy of endless tracks created by Ben-J, who has us eager for what is coming soon.

Brand New by Jacob Reddy

Akram Soliman
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Brand New by Jacob Reddy

The latest single from UK-based Indie Rock Artist Jacob Reddy is called “Brand New” and is a two-and-a-half-minute catchy anthem. The way the verses have beautiful and catchy lyrics that are easy to follow, and how the chorus is a vocal line with no words, make this a super catchy tune that crowds love and sing along to in Jacob’s live concerts. I’m in love with the idea that an indie singer-songwriter in our day and age now is opting for a more rock sound, rather than making this a mellow tune with no substance. The song has strong drumming with a prominent snare drum that feels like it’s not a faraway shift from the pop fan’s ear but still sounds organic and raw. I feel like this song was made into this style by Jacob just jamming the chord progression he thought of, and his session musicians winged it. And kudos to whoever of them decided that a little bit of overdrive on the guitars won’t kill the track too, cause it sounds amazing. I found myself whistling and humming the song’s main hook/chorus many times after I heard it. The only con however might be the short length of the track, I can sense that Jacob has a great potential to make a versatile record and once the full album is announced, I’ll be the first to pre-order or pre-save it to get more of his powerful yet accessible sound.

 

EP: Rectify by Dzirè

Akram Soliman
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EP: Rectify by Dzirè

Some musicians make cinematic albums that feel like a musical score for the stories only they can fully understand, but their fans can feel and relate to. Melbourne-based musician and singer Desiree Cameron, better known by her stage name Dzirè, has released one of those records this year. The 5-track EP is entitled Rectify and shows a dark industrial brand of Alternative pop with heavy subject matter that’s usually not found in commercial pop music. It took me three or four listens to wrap my head around all the crazy arrangements and ominous vocal style.

The EP starts with the track Belong, which was previously released as the record’s lead single. The track showcases dark vocals that are mostly sung in the contralto/mezzo area, in which the low notes are strong and grounded and the high notes feel thick and powerful. The eccentric and passionate technique Dzirè sings with may remind some people of Lana Del Rey’s dark vibes, but with the added raspiness and the predominant use of chest voice, making you feel her confidence and knowledge of the scales she writes her songs in. As for the instrumentation, the track has some orchestral synths, drums, and keyboard lines in an arrangement that leaves the spotlight for the vocals to shine. 

The second track, Rectify, begins with creepy dark synths and a repeating sample that sounds like a horn that’s playing off-key. It made me visualize a chaotic dystopian city that’s on the brink of destruction, or a jungle full of wild animals fighting one another. Which I guess was the theme of the song’s lyrics as well, I couldn’t tell for a fact as the lyrics have some ambiguity to them. The song has a smooth electronic bass line which was a great organic aspect amidst the industrial dissonant noises.

The third track, Moment Of Silence, shows clear socio-political commentary in its lyrics, with actual electric guitars that we can hear for the first time hear. The song’s second half has an electronic pop beat that feels like a rave is starting in the middle of a dysfunctional society. One of the most beautifully experimental songs I’ve ever heard. The grit Dzirè adds to her voice as she screams and shouts her high notes is second to none. 

The fourth track, Tropical Sin, begins with a piano, weeping vocals, and heart-shattering lyrics. You can tell it’s a very personal song for Dzirè. After the verse is done, the drums kick in and a dancy vocal line makes for an upbeat chorus. It’s as if the song’s arrangement represents a damaged and cast-out woman that slowly learns to dance t9 the beat of her drum and adapt to survive in this destructive society that abused her. The part that made this track an instant favorite for me was the recurring line:

“Take my arms 

Take my legs

No one’s gonna feel this way

I’ve been talking with the pastor

At my grave, my disaster”

This is my favorite track here by far. The emotional weight and honesty it has, the clean guitar after the choruses followed by the dramatic and heart-wrenching piano during the verses make it a very easy song to emotionally relate to.

The fifth and final track, Gun Love, is another synth-heavy industrial track. The way Dzirè mixed her vocals here reminds me a bit of Annie Lennox, and the fast drum beat is a nice juxtaposition with the relatively slow throat singing. The effect on the vocals makes them a little bit muffled, which added to the song’s creepiness. 

In any event, Rectify is not the kind of album you’ll be searching for and then finding, but rather a surprising experimental record that will make your jaw drop to the floor. I was a little overwhelmed at first by how avant-garde and highly experimental the sound of the EP was, but the moment I heard the guitars on Moment Of Silence and the vocals of Tropical Sin, I began to understand how Dzirè has a vision and direction to make a dark record with versatile elements. From the heaviness of the subject matter to the heaviness of the music itself, this record is not your everyday wannabe 90’s diva making a bubblegum-pop record to get some radio play. This is an expressive and brave musician who didn’t shy away from her experimentation and creativity and that, in my opinion, is what makes this EP stand out.

 



Whole Lot Left to Lose by 7000apart

Amgad Mahmoud
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Whole Lot Left to Lose by 7000apart

Ever heard of the couple who were seven thousand miles apart, who happened to make music together until they made life? If you haven’t checked our previous track review of their track ‘No is A Nice Word’.

Now that you know, let’s jump right into it! ‘7000apart’ releasing ‘Whole Lot Left To Lose’ is certainly a piece of exciting news to their fans “Inspired by ‘Death Bed’ by Powfu & beabadoobee, they combine a catchy whistle hook & heartbreaking lyrics.” The band stated.

A track that is joyful and releases you from the pressure and anxiety of losing things you possess and feel pressured to keep while being insecure about your choices and decisions you make.

The track sustains the “nothing to lose” mindset and sets us free from the fears residing in our thoughts only with its light tunes and low-key vocals casting some calm, no f**ks given attitude to your day.

The intro gives a vibe of emptiness as if you were stoned on an early sunrise, then whistles crack on and that’s what you be might do on your way back home then the looping bluesy guitar melody chains the track to make it a chillax pop track aligning Jon Kresin’s tunes to match the vibe along Amelie Eiding’s soothing vocals.

I said it before and would say it again, we will surely be awaiting passionately for what is more to be released by the American-Sweedish couple.



Lazy Sunday by May Payne

Akram Soliman
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Lazy Sunday by May Payne

Young artists who’ve got a burning passion for writing songs and developing themselves always get me. Manchester-based singer-songwriter May Payne is only 20 years old but has more than 20 years’ worth of creativity and passion. She cites artists like Lilly Allen as her influence, but I can hear a ton more genres and styles. Her latest single “Lazy Sunday” is a mix between the narratives of “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars and “Thank You” by Dido. It’s basically a person you can confide in and be comfortable around in your dark days, and such a concept is deceptively simple. The way May sings in a high key with much ease could’ve been messed up, but she nails it. She learned a few things on the trumpet specifically for this song, and they work amazingly. The trumpet mimics the clean guitar strumming in many parts, and in a short bridge they almost mimic a solo, and then we have more soft calm vocals with an amazing bassline. What I love the most here is how clear you can hear the instruments and their melodies, instead of having the song sound programmed and generic like most of today’s mainstream pop music. The soft head voice will appeal to fans of Billie Eilish and the amazing use of the trumpet will make a lot of people remember how No Doubt (among many other Ska bands) used to do that in the 90s. With the vast influences, today’s musicians can listen to and get inspired by, you feel like artists such as May Payne take the finest elements of each era and put a modern twist on them to somehow bridge the generational gap between bands and artists and have something for everyone in the mix. This song deserves to be a mainstream hit and get a ton of radio play and recognition for how simple and approachable it is, albeit being creative.



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