Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly - an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.
𝙄𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙋𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 - 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧, 𝘼𝙞𝙢𝙚́𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙖
Charles listens wherever egos…
Well, THAT was quite a week, wasn’t it! Phew. That big little article I wrote about Fair Play for Independent Artists garnered rather a lot of attention. Ya see, these things take time to put together. That article was not just cobbled together in half an hour with masking tape temporarily stopping it from falling to bits. It took me hours. And days in the planning. I say planning: it was mildly swimming around my mind for a bit beforehand. I needed to gather together all the information that might have been necessary, and then I knew it had to have some sort of structure. So I proceeded to ignore most of that information and just go by what I knew. This was pure laziness, but I wanted this to feel real. To be from the heart; not just a list of statistics and a rant. Tone was vital. It was all rather daunting if I’m honest. Which I am. Honest, not daunting. I mean, yes, I am used to writing weekly articles. But this was different. I am naturally silly. I like doing the humour thing. With humour. I like to pull facial expressions with words. I like to be light but not pointless. No, I like to think there is weight in what I write, but not deep, dark, depressing weight. No, no. Like Queen. I try to write like the music of Queen. Proper and unexpected, but fun and poppy on the surface. Yeah, that’ll do. This article last week was to be something new. Something different. Something to really stretch me. Lord knows, I need a stretch. It got to the point where I was having dreams about it. Not very healthy, but there you go. This is because it was and is important.
But I very nearly didn’t write it. I thought it was perhaps something too serious for ME to write. Too involved, too in depth, and too complicated. Basically, everything that is not in my character and personality. But the more I thought about the possibility of someone else writing it, the more I thought, I have an ego. Let’s use it!! Ego can be a good thing. It can push you to do things you might not necessarily have done. Still though, I was nervous. Yes, actually nervous (that ego didn’t last very long). The article had a lot riding on it. I then wondered about this idea of skipping a weekly review in place of this article. Me no likey. And going by the comments, it seems several of you still genuinely missed my review last week - sweet of you. However, what really tipped the balance and forced me to write about it, was the daily messages I was receiving beforehand for weeks from countless artists, asking what exactly was going on. People seem to feel comfortable with me, for some reason. They won’t ask in public for fear of looking dumb, but they’ll come to me. Here’s a complete list of those artists… No, no. I won’t be doing that. That’s not nice. I would never do that. But the point is, it was clear that very few people really knew or understood what was going on. So I felt it my DUTY to tell them. Hence the article. It needed to be complete. There had to be no further confusion or questions. Which in turn made me even more nervous. Get it together, CC!! Okay, ego. Do your worst. You can do this! It’s in your power!
And so I did. What a relief it was, then, to get back to my usual way of writing. My usual silly, off-the-cuff, happy-go-lucky way of writing. Phew! Except that for some reason I yet again feel nervous. As if more eyes will be on this one, after last week. I’ve been looking for my ego everywhere. Trying to remember when I last used it… Ah yes, we just talked about that. Hmmm… Maybe it has a shelf life…? Always check the date. But how can I check the date, if I can’t find the damned ego in the first place?! Dates, dates, dates… Wait, Friday’s just passed. That’s music day! And wait, I didn’t review a song last week, so that’s TWO weeks of new releases to get through. Sorry: to pleasure myself with. Ugh. To LISTEN to and enjoy. There ya go. Oh Christ… Of all the times to skip a week. I mean, of ALL the times!! The level of the latest music from the New Artist Spotlight is in the stratosphere!!! That’s quite high, by the way. Long gone are the days of “that one’s quite good”. My ‘maybe’ list should maybe be relabelled “Absolute Gems”. Maybe. But no. That’s what THIS column is all about. The crème de la crème. In English, that sounds really horrible: cream of the cream. Yuk. So, CC, have you got your mojo back? Are you firing on all cylinders? Are you “ready for the next episode”? Nnghh… Not quite. Because I have to make a choice. With new music from Cerulean Chameleon, Shahiem, Map of Autumn, Emily Gray, Paul McCormick, Bernice Marsala, Bryan Cooper, Faded Element, Dorian Whisper, bigbaldben, Mal Fantome, Summer Lee Carlson, evan., Sparralimb and Yon Idy (among MANY more), the choice was truly horrible, because the quality is truly brilliant. And this is JUST the last couple of weeks!! Oh, you nasty artists with your great music. Why must you do this to me?? Surely it isn’t above me to decide… Surely it is in my power… You keep saying “you got this!”, but I don’t “got” this. I don’t got nuh’in’. Come on ego, be forthright. You’re good at this, for God’s sake! Okay. Okay. Here we go. Of all the artist names I mentioned, I choose…….. nnnnnone of the above. Instead, I choose….. Blue Scarr and Aimée Britannia, with their brand new single, In Your Power. As to the other recent releases, you’re all utterly amazing, and these songs frankly ALL deserve a place here. But alas, I pick one, and one only. As I have bored you with before.
One reason I chose this song, is that it’s been a little while since I’ve reviewed a dance pop track. “But, but, what about Cerulean Chameleon and Shahiem??” - Look, I can only pick one, okay?! God!! You people. Besides, I have reviewed them both before. Map of Autumn sits, weeping politely… Your time will come, dear Tim. Anyway!! It’s time for a rousing round of morale boosting. Let’s get that ego pumped. It’s club time. Oh yes, we’re going to the club. Glowsticks at the ready. They’re vegan, of course, and ever so ethically manufactured - they will disintegrate before your very eyes, leaving a pool of neon goop down you (food grade, of course). Aaaaand we’re back in England (via Cape Town). The England that has been lovely for days (save the odd terrifying storm at night), but of course chooses to rain today - to give me inspiration. Noyce. Hence heading to the club, where it’s summer all year round. It is here that I meet Blue Scarr and Aimée Britannia (I didn’t actually meet them - this is MY world). I had forgotten how hot, sweaty and airless these places are. And I LOVE it!!! Carl is behind the record decks and the laptop, in the middle of the stage - that’s Blue Scarr. One hand twiddles a knob, while the other holds one solitary headphone cup to his ear. The remaining cup dangles and bounces with every bob of Carl’s head, as he grooves to the beat he has cut with precision. Meanwhile, Aimée owns the front of the stage, getting the crowd in the mood. She does so in a cheeky, sexy kinda way. Looking a little like a doll, she plays the part well and takes on the psychedelic hippy soul of Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane and modern day Hayley Williams of Paramore. She flows. She’s in the zone. She is captivating. The crowd responds uproariously, as each head follows Carl’s in tandem, bobbing and nodding, repeatedly headbutting the air. Their hands and arms are flailing like those of Aimée. Carl knows the power of the bass synth, and he knows how to use it. He ain’t afraid. “HE GOT THAT ego boostin’ groove, boostin’ groove, boostin’ groove EE GAAT DAT (Sing it with me!!) Ego boostin’ groove, boostin’ groove, boostin’ groove EE GAAT DAT!!” - Yeah!! Now YOU got dat ego boostin’ groove. THAT’S wha’am talkin’ ‘bout. It’s time. The crowd is pumped and ready. Aimée, you take it from here.
Mic to the lips, as she rips an eclipse in the sky. Aimée’s reverb tails are showing. It’s that voice!! That voice we know and love from the duo’s previous smash hit single, Underwater. It’s unmistakable. It creeps as it soars, as it scrapes and it floors. It’s tiny, it’s huge, it’s everything you want from a dance pop vocal. And all the while, Carl is holding it steady, knowing when to pass on the ego. He doesn’t tread all over her with lashing beats. Ego can be a problem when it comes to producer vs singer, but Blue Scarr knows and understands the importance of the moment. Like Map of Autumn, his time will come. For now, Aimée is the star of the show while Blue Scarr is the accompaniment. Aimée is busy with her trademark trills - GOD, they’re not just thrilling but chilling. She builds the vibe with increasing help from Blue Scarr, as he raises the levels and layers of his synths. The tension is too much. The audience needs that drop!! Aimée takes two steps back, and Carl’s moment has come - told you it would. Such satisfaction. But (thankfully) he doesn’t go full throttle into Armin van Buuren or David Guetta territory. If he had, I might not be writing this review. It’s the restraint that I like. Sure, we still get the “four-to-the-floor”, but it’s muted. It’s a feeling. It’s more visceral. Etherial, if you will. This is another signature sound of Blue Scarr’s. It’s just somehow cooler that way! It’s kind of psychedelic dance music. It’s more about the vibe than the beat. It’s not music to go crazy to. And as much as I like their hit, Underwater, I think this is cooler, and potentially longer lasting as time moves in its usual way.
I suspect that many of you “analog artists” using only “real instruments”, might quietly and even secretly think or feel that electronic music is easier to make, and therefore perhaps inferior to “real music”… Well, firstly, this IS real music, and you can officially call yourself a snob. Dance music being more about feel than musical technicality, means it has the potential to connect even more and even deeper than “real music”. I might agree however that it could be considered easier to make a mediocre or poor dance track than a mediocre or poor “analog” song. But who in the world cares about mediocre or poor ANYTHING??! I’m talking about the best stuff. The league of the upper shelf. And in this way, I would say it is harder to make dance music do its thang on this level. YOU know what the best dance music does to you. YOU know that feeling. Now imagine replacing those synths, beats and effects with “real instruments”… While it might be quite cool, it would feel like an interesting experiment. It would frankly not be as good, and probably wouldn't sound natural. What it is, is, there’s a place for one, and a place for the other. One is not better than the other, they are simply different. And they can merge as well (you know my own music) - a place for both. BUT!! The thing about dance music is that it SHOULD be treated differently to other music. It cannot be too complicated if it is to succeed in the club. The listener does less listening and more feeling. The feeler needs to be taken, and whisked away to another realm, if briefly. A lot of you might have assumed that I don’t particularly go for dance music. You’re so wrong. It just has to move me. It has to be MY kind of dance music. Whatever that is. And that will be very different to someone else’s. Blue Scarr and Aimée Britannia, you have managed to float my boat.
One final word on last week’s vital topic: we already have over 1,000 signatures. Let's keep going! PLEASE sign the petition if you haven’t already. YOU can make a change - it’s in your power.
Last week’s final quip saw Taylor Swift bear the brunt. How on Earth will she recover from such trauma…? Dua Lipa now has a new album out. It’s called Rampant Mediocrity (or something).
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