Axel Holmström – Never Awake
Here I am, daily writing reviews about rock bands using guitars and loud drums to share their ideas. But, you might be wondering whether I like anything else, whether my musical taste has any depth? That’s a fair question to ask.
Yes, there are pieces of classical music that I enjoy very much and play regularly. But I’m unlikely to ever want to write about them. There are famous jazz records that I play often, as well, but you won’t find me writing a thesis about the use of harmony on “Bitches Brew.”
While there are a lot of forms of music that deserve your attention, I think that the majority of them have some arrogance built into them. On the other hand, I think that modern pop-rock music is specifically designed to be a tool that people can use to find themselves inside of it. This is what Axel Holmström tries to do.
That’s because it wouldn’t even matter if you spoke the same language as the one in which Holmström is singing. The strain, the tension, the weariness that the music for “Never Awake” captures should have a universal appeal. This is not music crafted to put its creator in the best light possible, but rather to shine a light on whoever is listening.
Ryan Taverna – Leo
It’s easy to get cynical about any little thing, especially in this day and age. Doesn’t everybody lie? Arenn’t you in danger every day of your life, and aren’t there a million things that you need to worry about? Sure, it’s easy!
Still, it doesn’t feel too good now, does it? Is it not like you can be cynical and not have your back and your heart hurt a little bit every day from all that weight? And who are we, really, not to listen to those kinds of queues?
There’s plenty of cynicism in rock music as well. In fact, most of the music made in the last few decades using an electric guitar is made by people wanting to moan and complain about things. Ryan Taverna looked back and found a remedy.
That antidote is, of course, power-pop, or more plainly put, beautifully crafted melodies tied to the sound of jangly guitars and to a danceable beat. The lyrics of “Leo,” sure, describe a person dealing with their own crisis of faith in the human race. However, it’s Taverna’s contrasting melodies and lyrics that turn this into that slice of guitar pop that might just make you look at this world with kinder eyes today.
