S . Y . M . O . N . N

Written By Simon Chisholm

James Blake is a British electronic producer and songwriter. After a number of E.P releases and rising fame, he released his self-titled LP in early 2011. I was introduced to the post dub step sounds of James Blake when my brother showed me a beautiful live performance of the song ‘Wilhelm’s Scream’ at the BBC.

James Blake creates sparsely textured sound-scapes using slow throbbing electronics, processed sounds, synthesisers, percussion and vocoders. The textures vary subtly based on the mood; the vocal and accompaniment layering define the arrangements.

The grooves and sounds are disjointed in some places, and at times the songs are harmonically dramatic. The overall sound is chilled out and easy to listen to. Being an electronic producer it’s only natural for Blake to make use of House-like beats and coincidentally house-like grooves. The backbeats feature some rather severe rhythmic pieces, most likely achieved through directly editing the waveform, and sampling. This severity gives some of the tracks a rigid, disjointed feel, and other times the accompaniment is relaxed and free; the contrast feels refreshing.

Blake delivers his vocals in such a way that it sounds like crying; there is a sense of strain and desperation. The melodies are sung at the top of his range, but not falsetto, giving that strained sound. The main body of the songs consist of vocal layering. The lyrics are simple, making use of repetition, layering, flowing melodic contours and melismas (one syllable sung over more than one note).

The main accompanying instrument is piano, whose performance is very dynamic in it’s use of volume, attack, flourishes and relaxed feel. At times the piano takes on a classic ‘pop’ role. Other accompanying instrumentation includes elements including clicks, pings, slaps, shakers, noise, and various sampled percussion sounds. There is a sense that a lot of the performances were derived from experimentation with sound and manipulation. The use of electronic sounds promotes interest in the backing tracks.

‘James Blake’ released in 2011 by ATLAS. Produced by James Blake.

Written By Simon Chisholm

Four Year Strong’s fourth album,‘Enemy Of The World’, is a collection of ‘Summer Songs’, or what I’d call pop punk battle anthems. No matter what label you choose to put on it, this is music that will get you moving.

For me, Four Year Strong falls into the same vein as Set Your Goals, with the call and response vocal style, and the mixing of pop punk and hardcore. Different though are the vocal timbres; the voices are full bodied and powerful with a throaty crunch. The vocal is a screaming singing style, but not the typical style associated with ‘screamo’, the delivery is more of a yell. As well as the use of two vocalists, the band heavily uses gang vocals, providing what sounds to me like a battle cry.

Lyrically, the tracks are intensely positive. Just about every song tells a story about overcoming problems, chasing dreams, motivational chants and just being you.

The music is intricately layered, and each layer is very rhythmic and busy. The guitar provides the main harmonic movement and also supplies leads (sometimes there are two leads), while the crunchy bass shreds, and the chugga chugga drums bust out polyrhythms, heavily crashing on the cymbals and attacking the skins with ferocity; All the while the main voice and gang vocals yell catchy hooks over the top.

While I love the album as a whole (it can be enjoyed from start to finish or on shuffle) my favourite tracks include; On A Saturday; Wasting Time (Eternal Summer); and Enemy Of The World.

As a whole ‘Enemy Of The World’ is fast paced, high-energy sonic fun.

Extra Kudos for the beards.

Four Year Strong are:
Alan Day: Vocals, Guitar
Dan O’Connor: Vocals, Guitar
Josh Lyford: Vocals, Synth
Josh Weiss: Bass
Jackson Massucco: Drums

‘Enemy Of The World’ released by Universal Motown Records in 2009. Produced by Machine.

Also check out Four Year Strong’s 90’s cover album ‘Explains It All’

Written By Simon Chisholm

Being a rather obsessive Fall Out Boy fan it would have been wrong and disrespectful to overlook the solo projects of singer Patrick Stump. Stump had taken it on himself to work on the music he wants to work on, writing, recording and producing all of his work by himself. Let’s look his first single off of his debut E.P. ‘Truant Wave’, Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia).

The track is introduced with a marching snare and an octave left hand piano oom-pah. This is threaded throughout the track, creating a sense of movement, and affords a kind of bright, positive tone. The underlying synthesizer leads passages fill the higher frequency spectrum, providing interest, and breaking up the possible monotony that we have know and hate about pop music. The uplifting chord progression is introduced right away and continues throughout the track.

When the vocals enter, Stump sings in metaphors and other lyrical devices in order to tell a story of a character that is feeling downtrodden and struggling. Instrumental elements enter and exit breaking up the sections, creating interest.

The bar of silence before the chorus enters provides a sense of suspense and dramatics, leading up to the inspirational lyrics in the chorus. The backing vocals break the monotony of the one line hook of the chorus. The infectious hook line acts as a resolution to the feelings and tone established in the first verse, as if the character has found a solution and moved on be the best they could be.

The second verse features some of the more annoying quirks in Stumps vocals trimmings. It bugs me when he tries to sing like a computerised bassoon. The second verse also features a few light backing vocal ornamentations, making the track seem to build up as it progresses. The character’s (or a second character) insecurities return in this verse.

The pre-chorus and chorus is repeated as before, except with a little more vocal ornamentation. Enlightenment is found once again for our protagonist/s.

The bridge is definitely the climax of the track. Given that this section consists of only an organ, several vocal layers, and simple percussion, it is also a bit of fresh air. The message conveyed in this section seems to be that no matter how hard of a time you seem to be having, you can make it through. The line ‘shine alight on me’ implies to me that the message also includes the fact that all you have to do is ask for help, and it will be freely given.

The last chorus of the song is repeated a number of times while Patrick improvises with the melody, chanting the hook “You could be your own spotlight’.

The lyrics are inspiring and hold a deeper meaning at times and are delivered with an easy flow.

The single is accompanied by an inspirational video which is definitely worth a look.

Released 2011 by Nervous Breakdance Media. Produced by Patrick Stump.