Ah this will be an easy review. Just so you know the outcome is set, the rating 5 stars regardless. The singer? Beccy Owen. See I told you, easy one. Now unless you live in the North East of England or have by some wondrous chance you may not know who I am talking about. And this, my readers, is a SHAME! A shame so great that we must rectify it, but I can only give you the words, you must find the music.
BECCY OWEN'S WEBSITE!
Starting with her album The Singer Kicks (because I still don't have a copy of The Sweetest Tales from the Bitterest Edge, and not from want of trying!), running through Down With Gravity (because why not just do an entire run through eh?) and into the newest stuff from her band Sharks Took The Rest.
There are few artists who I could quite easily listen to regardless of mood and regardless of how much I have already listened to them. This woman is one of them. Her voice is fantastic, her lyrics brilliant beyond compare and she's a really lovely person.
"I had the emotional monopoly whilst you couldn't even pass go" (Mention)
"Cos you are home where you can be you again" (Proud & Smiling)
I think my favourite songs from TSK are Summersong, Stormbound, Mention and Flower. I have had the luck of hearing three out of those four live =D. But I literally 5star all the album anyway.
Her music is a lot of piano with vocals, some strings in places and a splash of guitars. Her live gigs are often Beccy at a piano singing to us. Think of the old style films where in some smokey bar the protagonist enters and there is someone sat at a piano singing because they want to, because that's what they want to do. But maybe I'm getting this vibe because I'm onto The Singer Kicks (the title track) and it makes you think of jazz clubs, smokey and dark:
"The singer she spits out the demons from her head / she's trying to keep them all at bay / but over again they insist on being fed / so now she feeds them all" (TSK)
Onto Down with Gravity
(The covers here are different to on their merch page. Maybe because mine are from the gigs and not from their website.)
Sharks Took The Rest: Grounds For Hearts To Swell (lyric found in Isobel)
BECCY OWEN'S WEBSITE!
There are few artists who I could quite easily listen to regardless of mood and regardless of how much I have already listened to them. This woman is one of them. Her voice is fantastic, her lyrics brilliant beyond compare and she's a really lovely person.
"I had the emotional monopoly whilst you couldn't even pass go" (Mention)
"Cos you are home where you can be you again" (Proud & Smiling)
I think my favourite songs from TSK are Summersong, Stormbound, Mention and Flower. I have had the luck of hearing three out of those four live =D. But I literally 5star all the album anyway.
Her music is a lot of piano with vocals, some strings in places and a splash of guitars. Her live gigs are often Beccy at a piano singing to us. Think of the old style films where in some smokey bar the protagonist enters and there is someone sat at a piano singing because they want to, because that's what they want to do. But maybe I'm getting this vibe because I'm onto The Singer Kicks (the title track) and it makes you think of jazz clubs, smokey and dark:
"The singer she spits out the demons from her head / she's trying to keep them all at bay / but over again they insist on being fed / so now she feeds them all" (TSK)
"Wreck my head if it means I'm beautiful in the eyes of you" (In Your Company)
You can hear the difference in the albums. It doesn't mean that either is better than the other thought, they're just different to each other. I couldn't give you a favourite between the two albums, they're both fabulous. There is a lot more percussion in this one though.
"And all along his anchor was me" (Anchor)
"Water in my mouth, I'm out of my depth" (The Deeps)
"I'll get some honey on a spoon and ram it down to keep me kind up and down from noon to noon" (Drowning Minnow)
I think Drowning Minnow is my favourite of all the tracks. It's actually beautiful. In Your Company, Anchor and Stalemate are also up in the top of the tops but DM steals the crown.
Both albums have a version of the song Sighs but on DWG it becomes a very much darker sounding song than on TSK. They both sound very much like completely different songs but some, if not most, if not all (DWG doesn't have a lyrics book) the words are the same. It's just... dark sounding for the most part.
10 & 11/100
Now moving onto Sharks Took The Rest (who have a new EP out on 14 Feb)
SHARKS TOOK THE REST MERCH PAGE!
I already have this =D because they were selling it at a gig so this is going to be rather promotional =)
You can hear the difference in the albums. It doesn't mean that either is better than the other thought, they're just different to each other. I couldn't give you a favourite between the two albums, they're both fabulous. There is a lot more percussion in this one though.
"And all along his anchor was me" (Anchor)
"Water in my mouth, I'm out of my depth" (The Deeps)
"I'll get some honey on a spoon and ram it down to keep me kind up and down from noon to noon" (Drowning Minnow)
I think Drowning Minnow is my favourite of all the tracks. It's actually beautiful. In Your Company, Anchor and Stalemate are also up in the top of the tops but DM steals the crown.
Both albums have a version of the song Sighs but on DWG it becomes a very much darker sounding song than on TSK. They both sound very much like completely different songs but some, if not most, if not all (DWG doesn't have a lyrics book) the words are the same. It's just... dark sounding for the most part.
10 & 11/100
Now moving onto Sharks Took The Rest (who have a new EP out on 14 Feb)
SHARKS TOOK THE REST MERCH PAGE!
I already have this =D because they were selling it at a gig so this is going to be rather promotional =)
(The covers here are different to on their merch page. Maybe because mine are from the gigs and not from their website.)
The group are a seven piece band. Vocals, piano, percussion, guitar, double bass/bass, cello, viola(? I get confused).
Starting with track that are not on the EP first.
"There are snails on the stair so I have to be careful" (Snails)
"It matters how we fall." (Go For Blood)
One track that I cannot listen to enough is Move The Sun from Live #1 (a live demo). With every lyric you can hear that no word has been used without care and thought. Every word is meant and that is what makes this track so beautiful.
"I would move the sun if it meant she could see clearly [...] I don't know what anyone needs or how freedom comes but if it helped her, I would move the sun." (Move The Sun)
My other favourite track that they do is Abstinence is a Bartender from Demo #1.
"If she would just opened him up with a kiss, relish all that is his all his, he would have drunk her up instead."
Starting with track that are not on the EP first.
"There are snails on the stair so I have to be careful" (Snails)
"It matters how we fall." (Go For Blood)
One track that I cannot listen to enough is Move The Sun from Live #1 (a live demo). With every lyric you can hear that no word has been used without care and thought. Every word is meant and that is what makes this track so beautiful.
"I would move the sun if it meant she could see clearly [...] I don't know what anyone needs or how freedom comes but if it helped her, I would move the sun." (Move The Sun)
My other favourite track that they do is Abstinence is a Bartender from Demo #1.
"If she would just opened him up with a kiss, relish all that is his all his, he would have drunk her up instead."
Sharks Took The Rest: Grounds For Hearts To Swell (lyric found in Isobel)
So onto the new EP. I know that mostly I've just been telling you the tracks I like and some lyrics from some tracks but it's really hard to review things properly. This has been the longest review I think I have ever done. Possibly the longest post too, but onwards!
The EP is five tracks and as a side point a very professional looking digipack. It's all proper looking and stuff. Two of the tracks I already knew (Ancestors and Isobel from Demo #1 and Live #1 respectively) but three new tracks was a nice surprise. Bring her back and Sleeping Conniptions are also new and also very beautiful. You can hear a clear sense of style developing within their tracks although they don't sound the same. They sound like them but the feeling is not repetitive nor boring. Their niche is their own and hopefully (I will always have my fingers crossed) they will go places with their music because it is certainly 100% better than most of the dross that is out there in the world.
The first track, Restaurant, is a very bouncy light feeling track and the most different track of all, it's the standout track because it shows that if they want to they could break their mold that they are creating on a whim and still make something wonderful. This is probably the only song in the world that actually uses the word "meniscus". Look it up on wiki (I did, if only for the spelling). The first line is about driving in a car and you could imagine the video for the track being in an oldish car bouncing along a country road, the instruments make it feel like that. It feels like a summer song. Yellow tinted, wind in hair, smiling.
Really really go out and buy it. Or go on their facebook page, listen to the tracks there, then buy the EP. For a friend, a relation, yourself or all three. Buy some for your enemies as well and you will make some new friends. Get on their mailing list, find out when their next gigs are and attend. They're even better live! Spread the word! Get them noticed and loved.
By the way, the five stars is for STTR as well as Beccy Owen. All this music if 5 Star material. Just incase it wasn't clear =p
I know it's been a long one but I wanted to do all this together. Also as all the Sharks music is EPs and demos they don't actually count towards the final album review count. It was a rule I made myself.
I might post again later =p blogging is funtimes!
The EP is five tracks and as a side point a very professional looking digipack. It's all proper looking and stuff. Two of the tracks I already knew (Ancestors and Isobel from Demo #1 and Live #1 respectively) but three new tracks was a nice surprise. Bring her back and Sleeping Conniptions are also new and also very beautiful. You can hear a clear sense of style developing within their tracks although they don't sound the same. They sound like them but the feeling is not repetitive nor boring. Their niche is their own and hopefully (I will always have my fingers crossed) they will go places with their music because it is certainly 100% better than most of the dross that is out there in the world.
The first track, Restaurant, is a very bouncy light feeling track and the most different track of all, it's the standout track because it shows that if they want to they could break their mold that they are creating on a whim and still make something wonderful. This is probably the only song in the world that actually uses the word "meniscus". Look it up on wiki (I did, if only for the spelling). The first line is about driving in a car and you could imagine the video for the track being in an oldish car bouncing along a country road, the instruments make it feel like that. It feels like a summer song. Yellow tinted, wind in hair, smiling.
Really really go out and buy it. Or go on their facebook page, listen to the tracks there, then buy the EP. For a friend, a relation, yourself or all three. Buy some for your enemies as well and you will make some new friends. Get on their mailing list, find out when their next gigs are and attend. They're even better live! Spread the word! Get them noticed and loved.
By the way, the five stars is for STTR as well as Beccy Owen. All this music if 5 Star material. Just incase it wasn't clear =p
I know it's been a long one but I wanted to do all this together. Also as all the Sharks music is EPs and demos they don't actually count towards the final album review count. It was a rule I made myself.
I might post again later =p blogging is funtimes!
Love Buttercup xxx
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