Orla Gartland - Woman on the internet

 "Woman on the internet" is the debut album by 26-year-old Irish singer songwriter Orla Gartland.  Although releasing her debut album in 2021 you would have thought she is quite a new artist. However, she has been plugging away and gaining more and more recognition for years. Her first EP was released way back in 2011 called "Laughing at my own jokes" and has released 3 more since.  She also has a very popular You tube channel with over 21 million views to date where she has posted many covers.

The album starts off with "Things I have learned" which is a great introduction to the album. It has this hypnotic beat at a perfect tempo and the vocals much like the rest of the album are superb.  Although Orla is clearly the star of the show here.  There are plenty of other people helping her on this record to make it a real gem.  You've got guitar, bass, drums and synths on every track.  Second track "You're not special, babe" has a great chorus. Not only because it has that upbeat, chirpiness of the first track but again the vocal performance is superb.

3rd track "More like you" continues the momentum of feel-good anthems and is currently her most popular track on Spotify and has 5 million streams. In fact, it looks like there is only one track of hers which streams more which is "Heavy" which is not on the album, and I think is a cover of the Linkin Park track. Recommended listening.  4th track "Over your Head" continues the momentum.  It feels so massive and built for playing live.

But my favourite track on the album is track 5 "Zombie!".  First, why don’t more artists use the word "zombie" as it’s such a fun word.  Again, another upbeat chirpy number.  This track and the tracks leading up to this are just so fun and carefree and that's what I like about her the most.  Track 6 "Madison" takes the tempo down a little and is more of a stripped back track.  While I would love for the momentum of the album to continue the way it was going. I suppose mixing things up every now and then isn't a bad thing.  Track 7 "Do you mind?" is another downbeat track and whereas the previous tracks although synths did appear were more of guitar led tracks, this is a piano led track.  

Track 8 "Copendancy" sends the album back into upbeat mode with a heavy guitar line as the intro to the song.  The way the guitars come in and out of this song and mix with Orla's vocals is superb and shows the great level of creativity Orla puts into her song writing. I really feel that this brings such a freshness to Orla's sound.  Track 9 "Pretending" is another glorious track and Orla's voice soars more than ever on this track and making it another stand out moment on the album.

Track 10 "Left Behind" is a stripped back slow piano ballad.  Then the album finishes on "Blood Line/Difficult Things".  "Blood Line" has a really funky beat brought out by the bass and yet another great chorus.  You can see why she has shot to fame.  Such great hooks to so many of her songs.  The second part of the song "Difficult things" closes the album nicely rounding off with an acoustic ballad.

Overall, I feel this is not only a great effort for a debut album.  But Orla has showed such creativity and injected great freshness into not only her own music but the music industry generally.  This is exactly what people need currently. Something upbeat that you can move around too while also having that balance with those poignant ballads.  Someone to look out for in the future. She is seriously talented.

Tremonti - Marching in time

 

"Marching in time" Is the fifth album by established metallers Tremonti. Fronted by former Creed and current axe wielder for Alter Bridge, Mark Tremonti; this album sees the band make the most of their time off from touring due to the pandemic by channelling their focus into this new album.  I have been into Tremonti for several years now and have been lucky enough to see them live a few times.  I thought their last album "A dying machine" was the best they have ever done. And that's saying something considering the standard on some of their other albums like "All I was" and "Dust".

But how would "Marching in time" stack up against this.  Tremonti released 4 tracks on the run up to this release, all of which I thought were great.  I'm always interested to see where the singles line up on the album and in this case, they were tracks 1-3 and then the album closer.  I am a bit obsessed with how bands open and close albums and this album is no different.  I find it fascinating that he not only opened with a single he released but also released a single which is the last track on the album.   Opening track "A World Away" for me is the "Take me with you" of the album which appeared on "A dying machine".  Not only has this got sublime guitar work all the way through but it has the best chorus on the album as it is so catchy and memorable.

In a live setting it is quite common for bands to open with one of their stronger more well-known tracks to really bring the crowd in. And I think that's what Mark is trying to do here with the album. He wants the listener to really be brought into the album immediatley and pay attention.  And it works.  This is a different approach to albums Mark has done in the past, particularly with Alter Bridge.  Tracks like "Slip the void" off "ABIII" and "One Life" off "Walk the Sky" are by design are natural intros to their respective albums and would only really fit as the first track on the album.  But "A world away" could appear anywhere apart from the last track.  It is just that good it needs to be on the album as for me it is one of the best tracks.

The last track "Marching in time" is my other favourite track on the album as well and is an interesting choice for that position on the album. Looking back at even Tremonti's own albums "Unable to See" off "Dust" and "Found" off "A dying machine" were natural closers, gently closing off their respective albums.  Whereas here, "Marching in time" sends the listener into one of the most epic track Tremonti has ever made.  And I know he made "Blackbird" by his other band Alter Bridge.  But this is his attempt at doing an epic 7-minute track Tremonti style.  Some of the shredding and guitar solos on this are incredible.  I think with these tracks sometimes it is better to put them at the end of the album as the next track will always sound weaker in comparison.

But this is a 12-track album so what about all the other 10 tracks in between? Well, these tracks are really solid and to a high standard.  I would say in comparison to other Tremonti albums a lot of tracks do have a heavier feel about them, particularly the intros to the songs which really do send out a statement.  I also think that technically, the guitar playing on this album feels more complex and advanced than before and I don't think that's just down to Mark but also the very talented Eric Freidman too.  I would say there aren't as many anthemic songs on here as "A dying machine". As in real sing along chorus songs.  But that in turn gives the album a fresh dynamic and separates it from other Tremonti albums.  My other favourite songs on the album are "Thrown Further", "Bleak" and a takeout the lighters song waiting to happen "Not Afraid to Lose".

Overall, this is a fantastic album and one of the things I love about Tremonti is that he keeps advancing and challenging himself.  All the songs on this album work well together and can be set apart from previous albums.  Mark is such an established act on the circuit now through Creed, Alter Bridge and Tremonti and such a hard-working artist.  It's hard to see when this steam rolling music machine is going to stop. Hopefully with this output it is no time soon.

21/09/21 Bring me the horizon @ SSE Hydro, Glasgow

I first found Bring me the Horizon quite a few years ago through their hit "Follow You".  Although I absolutely loved that song and heard some of their stuff. It wasn't until "amo" came out in 2019 I really got into them.  When tickets first went on sale for this gig, they sold out pretty quickly and for a change I thought I'd missed the boat. But luckily, they released extra seating tickets later which I managed to snap up for my fellow gig buddies Craig and Campbell and myself.

The two supports for tonight were Nova Twins and You Me at six.  We only managed to catch half of Nova twins set due to long queues outside to get in and being slightly late getting there. But what I did hear was very good.  For a 3 piece they make an incredibly heavy sound and Amy Love's singing is great.  To be honest I had listened to the album earlier this year and wasn't really taken in by it.  But for me the came across live a lot better than on record.

Next up was You me at six.  A band I have never really been into.  They have been around for about 15 years now and have certainly paid their dues.  And from this performance it was clear that they are good at connecting with the audience and put a lot of energy into the performance.  But for me the first three quarters of the set sounded a bit too samey.  Ok if you liked that vibe but for me it felt like each song was like the same thing off a production line. Towards the end of the set they started mixing things up.  With the crowd taking out their phones to light up the room for the melodic "Take on the World".  This is one of their better songs but plenty of other bands doing this sort of thing better.  

They played "SUCKAPUNCH" which is the self-titled song off the new album.  This is like a rock meets rave song.   Something Bring me the Horizon were doing in "amo" a few years back and it definitely feels like they were influenced by tonight’s headliner.  I enjoyed this song the most from their set.  As well as their mega hit "Underdog" which went down a storm. That's an anthem right there.  They do have some good songs but for me not enough to make me want to see them again or investigate them any further.

Which is my opposite thoughts to tonight’s headliners Bring me the horizon.  It was an absolutely amazing set.  The fact they can play songs virtually off every album and no tracks feel out of place is a testament to their consistency over the many years they have been going for now.  I was wondering how they were going to get round the many collabs they have done now.  While the Nova twins came on for 1x1.  They did manage to play "Obey" and "Kingslayer" and I presume just have the recording playing for the vocals from Youngblood and Baby metal respectively.

I was really pleased with the set list.  My favourites like "Mantra", "Parasite eve" were played along with a special acoustic version of "Follow you".  It was interesting to see that although the new stuff went down well. There were some old songs that you felt the crowd were really into with the way the sung them.  Not only that but for most songs for folk in the standing section there were circle pits. I've never seen anything like it.  Not only that but plenty of crowd surfing too which to be honest I thought was a thing of the past.  So, if you do like bring me the horizon but don't like jumping around at gigs. I suggest standing at the back or seats.

Overall, what can I say. This was an absolutely superb gig.  For me Bring me the horizon have proven tonight that they have enough material of a high, high standard to start headlining festivals.  There are so many headliners to festivals who rely on old material which has been around for years.  Bring me the horizon have released great material over the last 2 years and even in the week of this gig released a single "Die4u" which is another banger and have a plan for another 3 EPs over the next few years.  I can only see them getting bigger.  A great band.

 

Kacey Musgraves - Star-Crossed

 

"Star-Crossed" is the 5th album by Texas born singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves.  Up until this point Kacey seems to have been on an upward trajectory with each album she has released.  Her early albums saw her firmly in the country genre before releasing her 4th album "Golden Hour" which saw her shift slightly to pop and more melodic melodies.  I got into Kacey's music when "Golden Hour" came out after seeing some good reviews of the album.  I thought "Golden Hour" was tremendous and was one of my favourite albums not only of the year it came out but the 2010s generally.  I then went through her back catalogue and found this album although special wasn't a one off.  She has serious talent and depth to her music.

So, when she dropped the title track "Star-Crossed" a couple of weeks ago I was excited for this album.  I felt that it was well suited to being the opener of the album as it really sets the scene with the opening lyrics:

Let me set the scene 
Two lovers ripped right at the seam
They woke up from the perfect dream
And then the darkness came

Now I'm not really a lyrics person but that to me are great lyrics and bringing in the listener and telling the listener what this album is going to be all about.  Obviously, it’s about Kacey's divorce so she's opening up about the whole experience and letting it all out on the album.  But the track "Star-crossed" is a nice track which builds and builds too.

Second single "justified" is just as good. the rhythm and the vocals are superb on this and the two tracks these 2 tracks which she released will slot very nicely into her setlists.  But in listening to the whole album while its definitely not bad, it's certainly not one of her strongest albums.  As you would guess because this album is about divorce the whole feel of the album is quite downbeat.  Now if you are reading this and going through divorce or have been through it in the past, this may be a great album to you as you can relate to what she is saying and how she is feeling.  But I haven't, so although there are good tracks on here, and by the way I'm not just talking about "Star-crossed" and "justified".  Tracks like "cherry blossom", "keep lookin' up" and "there is a light".  But these other tracks are good because they offer hope and optimism about the future whereas the other tracks are the sadder more reflective tracks.

Final track "gracias a la vida" is a poor track to finish off with as there are distorted vocals in this which don't work at all.  This is a 15-track album and for me there are too many tracks which don't hit the mark but at the same time because of her back catalogue there is enough for Kacey to mean she can tour this album and play the good tracks from it while she has plenty to fall back on from her older albums.

Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

 

"Senjutsu" is the 17th album by English metal prog gods Iron Maiden.  First of all a brief background of my history with the band.  I remember buying "Brave New World" back in 2000 and liking it.  But then lost track of them and it wasn't until 2010 when "Final Frontier" came out that I would listen to them again.  That was my favourite album by them up until this year. I loved all the longer tracks on the album especially. Then their next album "Book of souls" came out five years in 2015 which I also bought and was a double album. For a band that pushes their sound and their own boundaries a lot this was ambitious even for them and featured their longest track to date which was in the 20 minute ball park.

Here we are though in 2021 and now finally after 6 years we have a new Maiden album. Obviously, there was an extensive "Book of souls" tour, but they also did a tour looking back at an older album too with their "Legacy of the Beast" tour.  This year thanks to Tim's Twitter listening party where two of the albums involved were "Powerslave" and "Seventh son of the seventh son" has seen me really get into Maiden in a bigger way than ever before. While I haven't got into the whole back catalogue yet. I have listened to a lot of the 80s stuff and also bought a lot of the live DVDs they have released over the years.

In terms of the build up to "Senjetsu", Maiden did make it fun for fans by giving out t-shirts to famous music friends like Frank Turner and Tim Burgees and getting them to wear the t-shirts or post on social media to create this hype wagon.  There was then a countdown to specific day and time at one point which ended up being the premier of a new song which was "Writing on the wall" which was soon followed by the album announcement.  "Writing on the wall" I felt shows everything which is good about Maiden; great guitar work, great vocals and all round great song composition.  I did see some reaction afterwards from reviewers saying Bruce’s voice has gone but I have to disagree with that. I think he still has it.

In terms of the album, like "Book of souls" this is a double album which is roughly 40 minutes per CD.  6 tracks on the first side and 4 tracks on the second side.  The first 6 tracks have what I would call some of the more accessible tracks on the album and ones which would appeal to more people.  Tracks like "Writing on the Wall", "Stratego" and "Days of Future past" are the shortest tracks on the album. "Stratego" I thought was alright when I first heard it but I think it’s a track which fits on the album better than listening to it as an individual track.  "Days of Future past" for me is a better track.  It has a fast tempo kind of like "The Trooper" without being a carbon copy.  For me it's a lot more of a hit than "Stratego" and I think it deserves the single treatment and definitely an appearance in their live set.

Title track "Senjetsu" sets up them album well, being the first track.  The big drum comes in straight away and the 8 minutes it lasts for feels like it’s over all too soon.  Much like other tracks on this album.  Another track on the first side is "Lost in a lost world" which is the longest track on the first side at around 9 minutes.  I would say this has one of the best outros on the album as it winds down with about a minute to go with Bruce's lyrics slotting in absolutely perfectly with the music.

To be honest I think they could have gotten away with just releasing the first disc as an album itself. Yes, it's 6 tracks but it's also 40 minutes which is more than acceptable for an album.  It is nicely contained, has the longer tracks and has the more anthemic tracks.  I certainly wouldn't have complained if this was the album.  However, if you hear the 4 tracks on the second disc you would probably change your mind.  The first disc is excellent, but the second disc reaches places and moments which are out of this world and for me arguably up there with best Iron Maiden have ever done.

The shortest track on this disc is "Darkest Hour" which is still 7 minutes long.  Then you have "Death of the Celts" at 10 minutes, "The Parchment" at 12 minutes and "Hell on earth" rounding off the album at 10 minutes.  Now I think the best way to get across how good these songs are, is that when you look across at say 5-6 minutes through any of these songs. I don't look at it and go "Oh no another 5 odd minutes to go". At these points I'm thinking "You absolute beauty 5-6 minutes to go”.  These songs are all absolute epics.  I must pay particular attention to "Death of the celts" as this gives me major goosebumps.  The long guitar instrumental section on this is just sensational.  The way the track progresses and the change in pace along with the interplay between guitarists is this best passage of music I have heard all year.  "The Parchment" I feel has an uphill task following this and I think on most other Maiden albums it would stand out a lot more as it well and truly still has its moments. And when I say moments, in Maiden terms moments equals minutes.  The way this song builds up and finishes with an epic guitar solo is spot on.

Overall, I think and hope this goes down as a classic Maiden album.  I think it's better than "Book of souls" and "Final Frontier which was my favourite album by Maiden for a long time has now been moved off its perch.  It's harder to compare it to the classic albums they did in the 80s.  This is a very different beast.  I have listened to this at least twice a day for the last week and I still think there is more to discover and unlock.  One things for sure, if I have an hour and twenty minutes to spare in the coming months I sure know what I am going to be doing with it!

Chvrches - Screen Violence

 

"Screen Violence" is the 4th album by synth pop megastars from Glasgow, Scotland - Chvrches.  This is the follow up to 2018's "Love is Dead".  It should be noted that in between albums in March 2019, they also released a track with Marshmello called "Here with me" which is their most streamed song on Spotify by far with 509 million streams at time of writing.  They also released a song "Death Stranding" for "Death Stranding: timefall" soundtrack for a video game.

The first single to be taken off the album was "He said She said" which must be the most Chvrches sounding track they have ever done.  If you were to play this song to someone it would act as a good beginners guide as to what Chvrches are all about.  Straight up synth pop at his finest with a chorus going "I feel like I'm losing am losing my mind" which is a lyric which seems so obvious for the band to do and I have no idea why this has taken 4 albums for it to appear on.

The second single "How not to drown" features Robert Smith of the Cure. Although I am not a fan of the Cure, on this occasion Smith compliments Maybury's voice well as they alternate versus.  It's always interesting as well to get singers come in, in a genre which isn't the one they are known for with in this instance The Cure.  So, a decent track.

The 3rd single was "Good girls" which is another catchy, solid track.  I don't think there are any songs on the album which reach the peak of "Mother we share" or "Clearest Blue".  But while there is not any standout tracks, I wouldn't say there are any weak tracks either.  This is a solid album and I think they would have had a hard time choosing singles as it's one of those albums where it doesn't really feel there are any album tracks, and any could have been released. At the same time the song with Robert Smith was probably an obvious one to hopefully pull in some Cure fans.

Some might say it's just another Chvrches album and they would be right to an extent.  They are doing what they are good at and really there aren't any artists out their doing what they do, as good as they do now. What's the point in going into other flooded genres when you are so good at the one, you're in.  In saying that the drumming is more prominent on this record and some guitars too and even noticed a piano in a track.  But even though they are doing this, they still have that core Chvrches sound. Just as I like it.
 

02/09/2021 - The Bluetones and Sleeper @ O2 Academy, Glasgow

19 months.  That's how long ago since my last gig was.  No explanation required as to why.  This gig was due to take place on the 20th of August 2020 and got put back a number of times.  Even in the week leading up to this I was waiting for the Scottish government to pull the plug on it due to an increase in rise of cases in Scotland.  But luckily all they announced was that vaccine passports will be required for big events.  But it was too soon to enforce it for this gig.
 
But the pre gig run up was slightly different in the fact we had to do a lateral flow test and record it on the day of the gig.  Then when we got to the venue, we had to show the email/text with the result and also wear masks when we were inside unless we were drinking.

 
But onto the bands.  No support acts. This was a joint headline tour for Sleeper and The Bluetones.  Campbell was there mainly to see Sleeper and I was there for The Bluetones.  The bands had been altering who headlined and I wasn't sure who I wanted to headline.  Tonight, it was Sleeper up first and took to the stage at 7.30.  I had listened to some of their stuff beforehand which sounded not bad.  They formed in 1992 and then split up in 1998 in which time they had 3 studio albums.  One of which was "Smart" which they were playing in full tonight for its 25th anniversary (plus a year).  When they got back together over the last few years they have now released 2 further albums.  Tonight, they got straight into it, and I was drawn in immediatley.  Louise Wener is such a great frontwoman as she has such great stage presence and charisma.  I did listen to "Smart" before the gig, but it is even better live.  What a band to witness for my first gig back after so long.

But they weren't done after finishing "Smart". They had a short break, then came back on and played a greatest hits set which must have been at least 30 odd minutes, possibly 40.  They have some great singles.  And they nailed a cover of Blondie's "Atomic". Finishing off with a track I recognised from long ago "Sale of the Century”.  It was such a good ending to the set I thought how could The Bluetones top that. It felt like such a climax to the evening.  In the end the set lasted an hour and 35 minutes with a short break which is decent considering the Bluetones got the same amount of time.

Bit of background to the Bluetones first.  They are one of my all-time favourite bands.  Although still touring, they haven't released an album since "A New Athens" in 2010 which was their 6th studio album.  Tonight, they were celebrating the 25th anniversary (plus 1 year) of "Expecting to Fly" which was their debut album.  They came on about 9.30 and delved headfirst into "Talking to Clarry" and sounded as good as ever. Well, I have only managed to see them once before which is when they toured "Luxembourg" up the road in the Garage.  My highlight from the album was "Putting out Fires" which comes straight after their mega hit "Slight Return".  Lead singer Mark does like to gab between songs and engages with the crowd well.  

Like Sleeper after they played the album, they had a short break and returned for greatest hits set.  Just to show the strength of The Bluetones back catalogue they played 3 singles which weren't even on albums; "Marblehead Johnson", "After Hours" and "Are you Blue or are you Blind".  "Solomon Bites the worm" particularly went down an absolute storm.  Then Mark singing "Every breath you take" by The Police while the rest of the band played to the tune of "If" was another highlight. This lasted a minute before Mark said the rest of the song doesn't really work so we'll leave it there much to everyone’s amusement.  But they returned to "If" immediatley and that was the last track of the night.  As I said before I wondered how The Bluetones would top Sleeper's grand finale. But they certainly did with "If" as it has such a great outro to the track and Mark had the audience in the palm of his hand much like he had done all night.

What a gig.  Two fantastic bands.  I do hope The Bluetones think about doing the same again for the 25th anniversary of "Return to Last Chance Saloon" next year and maybe bring along Sleeper again as they released The It girl in 96' and "Pleased to meet you" in 97's so either or both would do the trick. :-)

Photos by my gig buddy Campbell