Time to update your playlist? Adam Humphries brings you new music reviews for this month!             Â
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald: Good Plates
This both begin as a slow-paced, melodic song and pretty much continues the same way throughout the entire track. It is one of those sorts of tracks where it is smooth, slow, and tells a story from a single-person perspective; a kind of ‘this is a story I want to share with you’ type of things. For what it is worth this is actually quite a good acoustic number and Michael’s vocals in this are rather soft with a rough edge on them.
If I had to describe his voice it is a sort of smooth meets rough with equal amounts. As always Michael does one of those videos where it’s just him, his guitar, his singing voice and nature… and of course your musical listening ear and he echoes music legend, Willy Mason.
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald: I Love You
This is quite a good track as it uses the sounds of nature for its introduction, then you get Michael’s voice to weave its way in. Now, this musical number is basically about the emotional feeling of love and what is good about it is that it is performed in a simplistic way. No tears about the break-up, troubled relationships, just a nice love song that is easy to listen to, with the sounds of nature quietly playing away in the background.
Whenever you hear love songs there is a common denominator with them all, they are relaxed, not rushed and the voice is always calm and Michael’s s no exception. Basically, his love song, his story. As always with him, he always takes any acoustic number to nature’s playing ground.
Faith Mussa: Waiting
Waiting is the new single from Malawian artist, Faith Mussa, and is a definition of what can affectionately be described as a one-man-band. This is the result of a collaboration with dance producers, SONDR, and what a collaboration it is. Waiting is an absolute corker of a song, even I can’t quite get my head around just how good it is. The song itself is a big tune in the making and for something that is over three and a half minutes quite a bit is packed into it.
There is something about the lyrics that makes them both strong and edgy in they way they have been written and put together. During the song there is a lyric which comes round every so often ‘We’ve been waiting for this day to come all our lives’. In some ways it almost seems to have a political statement in it.
If anything, this song is just one great big beautiful collaboration where everything about it between Faith and SONDR just gels together with absolutely no effort at all. And when that happens, you know that you’re going to end up with a lovely track on your hands, and this one is an example of that.
Healthy Junkies: ‘Something in the Way’
Now for anyone who’s familiar with this track itself the last time you’ll have heard it is from Seattle grunge rock band, Nirvana. Well now British rockers, Healthy Junkies have decided to cover it. And for someone who’s heard the original version a few times Junkies version isn’t actually that bad if I’m being honest.
What I like about the Junkies version is that they have kept the main core sound of the song faithful to the original but at the same time take it to an alternative place. If anything, they have taken it to a more electro/hard rock sound and it has given it a more developed, fuller sound. Bearing in mind Nirvana’s version was just under four minutes long whereas this one is just over two and a half minutes long yet somehow sounds like it contains more. Bizarre, but somehow, they seemed to have done some form of justice to it.
Also, I think the fact that you have a female taking the lead vocals gives it something that little bit extra. Then again Nina Courson definitely has that voice which can make the sound as haunting as it does smooth and soothing. If ever there was such a thing as a worthy cover song, I think this could be it.
