Well 2017 has well and truly gotten started and as par for the course, I have been away from doing this blog for quite a while now. So you could call this a comeback but that seems to hold a lot of responsibility for me that I wouldn't feel safe solely keeping on my shoulders. Like a blind date, lets just keep things casual and simple. So without further ado, here we go with what I have been listening to this January. It was relatively slow starting, but by the end of it great albums were being churned out faster than I could've possibly listened to them. You can see what I've been listening to here.
The Proper Ornaments // Foxhole
My third pick of the month is the mellow sounding sophomore LP from the London boys. Previous to this record, I hadn't heard of these guys, and that surprised me because their indie pop rock scene is something I actively try to stay on top of, including upcoming acts etc. Foxhole as a whole ranges in sounds, from the orchestral instrumentation to the more sombre vocals and stripped back guitar. It does bare bones really quite well, almost playing the less is more angle at certain times and pulling it off quite superbly.
Courtney Marie Andrews // Honest Life
At this point is where Americana took over my life in a big way. The album by Courtney Andrews was released around August last year for the rest of the world (don't hold me to that statistic) but was only just released this month in the old UK. Better late than never is the phrase I am going to stick to with this one for a small piece of mind. Anyway, Courtney is yet another youthful artist that is incredibly prolific, always creating top quality music at quite a powerful rate. Honest Life is a LP filled to the brim of brilliant tracks that show her talent as a songs-woman in terms of vocals as well as writing ability seeing as she personally wrote all of the tracks herself. And that fact shouldn't be as surprising as it is in today's world.
Caroline Reese & The Drifting Fifth // Tenderfoot
It may not be much of a surprise after my last choice but my number one is another Americana banger. But gone are the bare vocals and plugged in is the foot stomping electric guitar. This is the fourth full length release for Caroline Reese and second with the incredible Drifting Fifth backing her up. On Tenderfoot specifically, Reese and the band do a great job mixing the emotionally powerful lyrics with complimenting yet still up beat guitar and drum parts. I guess that is one of the main reasons I have listened to it so many times this month. It always finds a way to soundtrack my life in ways I wouldn't have expected it to even fit. Enjoy one of the singles 'What I Did' below.
