
Andrew Judah – Alora
When you consider all the people who actually have your best interest at heart, it’s hard not to get a little cynical. Can you really trust the stranger wishing you a good day? Is everyone reading out the news on television just following some dark interest? Maybe there’s nobody to trust. Indeed, maybe it’s just better to retreat into a world all of your own.
But wait. There are some people who still have hope in their hearts. They believe in peaceful mornings, long, uneventful days and watching the sunset in the evenings. They dream of getting away from the maddening pace of modern urban sprawl. And, most importantly, they don’t just wish for these things to happen for them, but for everybody. Can we really trust them?
Andrew Judah’s “Alora” isn’t so much a folk song as an incantation. The softly whispered prayer is one sent out in the universe so that Judah and all like him can find a place to call their own, a place away from the hustle and bustle, a place where they can find themselves. Judah’s vocals, and especially his choice of melodies, work excellently against the sparse arrangement. The song never quite finds a conclusion. But why should it? This is a story meant to have no ending, a tune for life spent on a peaceful island somewhere.
Shepherd Bridge – Armor
We all think we know what rock music is all about. It’s loud and brash, and it is played by confident people, usually males. Movie producers are, incredibly, convinced of this. We know this because each time they need a rock band for a film scene, they get the loudest band featuring people with the worst hairstyles and the most out-of-the-art fashion styles.
Well, to be fair, this is what rock music is like most years. But there are exceptions. And in those short periods, the best records, the ones worthy of being included among the very best, are made. In these brief instances, rockers aren’t just pretending to be confident but are looking to understand themselves. During these times, the songs aren’t written to convince the public that they win at every turn but that they are struggling to do what’s right at all times.
Shepherd Bridge’s “Armor” is written during a period in which the greatest guitar bands and artists found it necessary to look inward for inspiration. “Armor” is about a great, mighty fight. It’s about a battle for control over one’s own psyche, a battle for the fate of one’s soul. Shepherd Bridge utilises heartfelt singing well. But the songwriter really lets the tune catch a fire with the towering crescendo. These are times of self-discovery for people who use guitars as their instrument of choice.