Read on for your reviews from SpinTunes 24 Champion Vehicles of Beware (aka Phil)!
# 1 Hug Your Children - David Taro
Beautiful sounds and sentiment here, with some expert time shift / genre transformation magic. For me, this evokes ELO vibes or maybe Wings where a song moves through several styles and movements. This isn't easy to do and you pull each of yours off with style. The simplicity of the message is what comes through and this is exactly what the challenge is supposed to evoke - mission accomplished.
# 2 Falling Down - TBOES
Great guitar sounds great vocal delivery here, it's. The limited word choice of the challenge makes your lyrics clear and direct for the listener, while still being broad enough to allow for some interpretation ('the lies I keep // the truth they interrupt'). Killer ending too, way to finish with a bang!
# 3 Shadow Teeth - The Alleviators
A really poignant set of lyrics here, with just one f-bomb for maximum impact. The musical dynamics here are delicately poised to leave room for the vocals which have become a reliable centerpiece of yours. The vocal doubles are effective as always, however I would have liked the melody to have a harmony line at some point (but that's just a suggestion).
# 4 Move Through The World - Hot Pink Halo
Opening with a Claire de Lune reference is a great move here, it really sets the scene initially before the vast sonic landscapes come through. The slow tempo / 6-8 feel gives that dreamy, swimmy feeling throughout. A couple of times there were some timing discrepancies, which interrupted the flow a bit for me. The chorus is really strong lyrically, with the repeated line serving as an anchor. The backwards piano at the end book-ends the whole arrangement, another really clever move here.
# 5 Wish One For Me - Huge Shark
It's a great bed of electronica here, which leaves room for your voice to shine through. It's a great vocal performance throughout and you get to show different sides of what you can do. Still, I found myself wanting more dynamics from the instrumentation to elevate the key moments in the song and provide maximum impact. Keep building this into an epic and I think it could be filling dancefloors soon!
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