It’s fairly boiling outside at the moment in London – perfect weather for chilling in the garden with a brew and the sound system on in the background. I’ve been shoveling gravel though which hasn’t been that exciting per say, but these few songs have helped me through the process. Maybe I should rename the feature, ‘songs to shovel gravel to‘, it’s not quite as catchy. These are songs that have come through into our submissions inbox that I think you may enjoy too – we’ve got some great tunes this afternoon. Actually, there are loads of amazing songs coming out tomorrow too so it’s going to be a fruitful couple of days here.
Featuring music from: Justy / Dan Romeo & The Lone Strangers / Shigar / The Birthday Letters / Jervi
Shigar / Make Up Your Mind
Well, we got to start today’s list with this soulful treat from Shigar! Honestly, this is one of the smoothest things I’ve heard in a long time. Silky vocals, beautiful brass notes and a purely relaxing vibe. This tune from Shigar also has a pretty lovely keyboard solo in the middle too – jazz central. This is absolutely divine. I met a load of old-school London musicians over the last few years – the likes of Geraint Watkins, Jon Cleary, John Johnson and his band ‘The Shuffling Hungarians‘. What they all have in common is a free, expressive live show with lots of Jazz, roots-y solos and expressive freedom on stage. In modern music, it’s hard to find artists making soul like them boys. Shigar’s intrumental ability is not far off here.
His voice is so clear, that it sounds a little bit like a more pop oriented version of Marcus King. I can’t commend this new artist enough, he is a totally fresh thing and I’m hoping people start getting behind this! This is real, pure music making. Brilliant. Even his tune titled ‘hahaha‘ has something special to it, Shigar seems to be only messing about right now, wait until he gets going properly!
Justy / Stringing Along
Justy is a Brooklyn born, Staten Island raised singer/songwriter who caught my attention with her lovely new single ‘Stringing Along‘. A subtle and well crafted little tune this, her vocals have a beautiful husk to them throughout. A really hard-working musician who is on the rise over there in the States. Her style is exactly my type of chill and I must have listened to this tune about a hundred times so far. The beat work kind of reminds me of the late Mac Miller’s ‘Nikes on my feet‘ for some reason. It’s languid and non-intrusive. Really impressed with Justy, she is a brilliant emerging talent and well worth the shout-out
Check out the wonderful ‘stringing along’ below.
The Birthday Letters / My Kronstadt
A marauding piece of intense music making from the UK’s own The Birthday Letters. The up-tempo and high octane pace of this one makes it a super summer tune! This tune gives me festival feels – it’s uplifting in it’s construction and I’d love to bop to it in a big field somewhere in the midlands. Oh I wish festivals were still a thing! The Birthday Letters rocking out My Kronstadt would be a great spectacle. What stands out the most in this track is the fantastic brass elements that ripple around throughout, it’s a top sound.
Get the dancing shoes on in the garden and have a sway to this one, it will cure you of the Corona blues.
Dan Romeo & The Lone Strangers / The Rain
This one reminds me of Callum Pitt – this plucky indie tune is also quite uplifting and summery. The Rain has been released this morning and bops around in a mesh of happy guitar riffs. The lads are an Australian outfit and fronted by Dan Romeo who is a self confessed musical journeyman. He and the band have assembled together to share their powerful live performance with us all when the gigs return. This is a top tune for those indie fans out there. I like the main melodies and vibe of this one and have already given it a few spins on the speakers in the garden.
Jervi / Dysphoria
I end today’s list with some dreamy and atmospheric lo-fi instrumental work from 23 year old Spanish producer Jervi. I was sent in this tune today and fell in love with the simplistic melodies immediately. Whimsical synths combined with a retro hip hop kick beat and some sporadic vocal samples. what’s not to love here? The tempo and pitch shift as the tune progresses and it’s as if we get our feet caught in the mud halfway through. Quite an eerie sound. I’m very impressed with this composition and will be adding it into my personal rotation. I hope you enjoyed today’s tunes. I have five more coming tomorrow – including the new one from RY JONES that I’m mad excited about.
About ‘The Sound Sniffer’
The Sound Sniffer is a music blog which is still only a baby – Founded and run by Kevin Coakley in early 2019. He is a music writer and ghostwriter. ‘The Sound Sniffer’ also runs gigs and showcases in London since Oct 2019. The showcases are picked from artists we find in our submissions inbox.
Check out my Interviews HERE
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