Matthew James Aylett – Past Goodbye
Matthew James Aylett has just released his latest single, ‘Past Goodbye’. It is a country folk song that grows and progresses with storytelling imagery and scenic frames. The song has a lot of nostalgic themes that manifest in the melodic emotion, in the lyrical context and in the vocal warmth. All of these manifestations pool into each other, weaving into an inner world of memories and emotion. It’s a momentous song, each second inked with feeling and thoughtfulness. The listening experience creates a stillness around you, a reflective and soft space that you can burrow into and think, feel and slowly heal. Leaving the past behind can be a complex process, but with this warm folk song swirling around you, the future seems to flow in beautifully.
Karen Salicath Jamali – Only In Love We Are
Karen Salicath Jamali has crystallised her musical brand and style as a pianist and composer. Her songs emerge from the human experience, a deep level of feeling that takes on the shapes and rhythms of her music. Marked by an explorative openness and generosity, her songs are irrepressible. Her latest release is ‘Only In Love We Are’, a fluid piano piece with a warm ooze. It wanders, feels out the experiences of love in an atmosphere of acoustic guitar and hypnotic vocal harmonies. There is something both revealing and mysterious about the voice curtains that sway around in the soundscape. It’s labyrinthine, nuanced but also gives away the essence, the core of it all to the listener. Navigating between these spaces, you find moments of your personhood as they manifest in love. Listen Now!
Darren Flynn – Pinebox
Darren Flynn is a singer-songwriter and country artist who is rustic all the way. Blending his charismatic performance style with intimate themes and thoughts, his songs have such a unique and fluid sound. His latest release is ‘Pinebox’, a track that exemplifies this facet of his music making. A raw and fluid acoustic guitar groove. Playful banjo picks. And warm vocals that think out loud and bends to the stream of consciousness emotion. It’s a story, a cautionary tale, a flowing and progressing thought, all at the same time. In its soft yet spontaneous rhythms and deliveries, you can pick up on the blues that color the country and the folk. He’s like an old poet who is walking around and singing his thoughts. A minstrel that states hard truths with a nonchalance. The humanness of this track comes out in the lyrical exploration and vocal inflections. The best way to listen to this track is to go with its gentle drift. Like a driftwood, it floats to new and nuanced spaces.
Finlay Birch – Weight Will Unwind
Finlay Birch is a singer-songwriter who creates immersive acoustic experiences for his listeners. As an alt folk artist, he has a very free and contemporary style. While also retaining a classic and rustic folk flavor. ‘Weight Will Unwind’ is the artist’s new album, a collection that shows off his pastoral writing style and melodic tones. The title track especially carries it home. There are a lot of fresh, melodic flows that he blends into a luminous atmosphere and an open vocal flow. We also see performative builds. Theatrical rhythms and vocal parts that are detailed with melodic nuance. Like a whimsical garden, the song grows rhythms, flows, and melodies spontaneously. The vocals go deeper into that explorative spirit, and the soundscape changes and evolves with it, growing and progressing with that melodic foliage.
Mark Moule – Eyes of Izzy
Mark Moule is a singer-songwriter and an acoustic artist. Based in Western Australia, he lets his love for its landscapes and oceans populate his music. His latest release is ‘Eyes of Izzy’, a love song that is sung with a story. The atmosphere of the song is vast and explorative. Like open skies all around. There’s a lot of space and openness which he devotes to his romantic theme. The acoustics are raw and rustic. Organic sound with very little production. And his vocals, also gritty and natural, grow from it and spread out into the track. That homemade sound with a DIY intimacy. All of it adds to the listening experience and the appeal of his craft. It’s warm, hearty and feel-good as he looks forward to forever with his wife. The rhythmic drift is continuous and looping to tie in this theme. Lilting and full of memorable hooks and frames, it’s a great way to end this week’s folk picks.
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