top of page

๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐˜†โ€™๐˜€ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ - this week: Interlude - Sixth Floor Memories

Welcome all to ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐˜†โ€™๐˜€ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, 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 ๐™‰๐™š๐™ฌ ๐˜ผ๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ก๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™ฉ playlists.


๐™„๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š - ๐™Ž๐™ž๐™ญ๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ˆ๐™š๐™ข๐™ค๐™ง๐™ž๐™š๐™จ


Charles finds a nook in time, and rounds off the year in headphones.

I hope you all simply had a wonderful Christmas time. Now that Santa is back home in his bed for a well earned annus somno (year of kip), the rest of us are all wide eyed (or not so) and twiddling thumbs. But we are allowed to do so without even a smidge of guilt. Christmas has passed and the New Year has yet to come. We are in a unique time of year. In limbo, even. It is neither one thing nor the other. An interlude, if you will. But it is not to be frittered - although frittering can still be done, if that is what you choose to do. This time of year is sort of how everything resolves. Time to take stock and reflect on the yearโ€™s happenings, or non-happenings. Have you been a good child? Have you been honest? Have you remained innocent? This ongoing โ€œbad airโ€ has somewhat soured things (again, or still), but we mustnโ€™t let it take over our lives. We must find a natural impetus and push through to the other side. Turning a negative into a positive, as they say.


My love has been stuck in her native country of Poland, and I have remained in my beloved Londinium. And although this โ€œbad airโ€ was at first something of a novelty about which to talk and with which to get involved (whether you wished to or not), in its second year it has made me realise that love is no game. It is not something to be messed about or toyed with. It seems there is little light at the end of the tunnel, but we must not think like that. Particularly at the dawn of a fresh year. If we donโ€™t dive in with a bright outlook, it can be difficult to rise later on (thatโ€™s what SHE said). So a time for reflection, then. Our memories of the year. Well! The New Artist Spotlight has mainly been my life this year. It has brought me so much joy and so much fulfilment. Through the NAS I have found many close friends from all over the world. We have stuck together and bonded like a weld. But very often it has been the music itself that has brought us together. For example, I may never have spoken to various members if it had not been for their tunes whispering or blasting through my eardrums. Music is so much more than sound. Aside from anything else, it is very often a conversation starter. And so, the conversation starts. A lot of this has come from my writing these very reviews - I have reviewed more than 50 songs in the past year! It brings me in close contact with so many artists, and I have to say, I absolutely love it. Sometimes I receive the most beautiful messages and voice messages from artists I have reviewed. It used to be nice to get a brief thank you from an artist for a review, but now I explode with a glowing radiance when I receive the most tear-inducing words of appreciation; proud and accomplished is how it makes me feel.


Letโ€™s get back to this interlude we have upon us. Music in general unfortunately has to sometimes (or usually) take a back seat or be โ€œfit inโ€ to the rest of life. But now we have our one chance of the year when we can close our eyes, don the headph- OW! Maybe don the headphones first, THEN close your eyes. Music is allowed to take centre stage for once. With great music playing for a fully immersive experience, it might seem like youโ€™re still seeing things, despite your eyes being loosely shut. This week I decided to go with a band called Sixth Floor Memories. SFM very much does sound like a band, but it is in fact a solo effort from Dutchman Sander Meijer. Over the past year, Sander has been releasing many great songs, but we now have them all as one complete package, in the form of their debut album: The Story of Jasmin Reeder. And so I thought I would take this opportunity to finally make my thoughts known.


To my ears there is a lot of Snow Patrol in Sanderโ€™s sound, but more modern and up to date. On thing though: I really REALLY donโ€™t like Snow Patrol. So why on Earth am I reviewing THIS?? Because THIS I LIKE!! Itโ€™s a funny thing, but Iโ€™ll tell you a little story. Many moons ago I wrote and recorded a song that was not dissimilar to Jeff Buckley, whom I like a great deal. When I had finished the track, I told a good friend that I had a new song and he was excited to hear it. When I told him that it was Jeff Buckley inspired, he was rather less inclined, for he has always weirdly recoiled at any mention of the legendary figure. My friend could not stand Jeff Buckley. He did however have the โ€œgraceโ€ to give it a listen nevertheless. This chap was seemingly blown away, and said that it was my best track to date, and for years it remained his favourite of mine. Very queer! So you see, despising the influencer doesnโ€™t mean the influencee will have the same effect. Sixth Floor Memories has made a FINE indie pop debut album with impeccable sound and a delicious flow. Sanderโ€™s voice is quite reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys, giving it a clear, pure honesty and simplicity that makes the melodies defined throughout each track. The Netherlands have seemingly been in permanent lockdown for oh-so long, which is not a good thing. But then again, letโ€™s look at it in a more positive wayโ€ฆ It has given Sander the chance to make these fabulous tracks, when in normal life he maybe wouldnโ€™t have been able to. The โ€œbad airโ€ has stifled and crushed live gigs, but it has been a marvellous opportunity for artists to create. Which to me, is more important. This young artist has certainly taken the bull by the horns and given us the perfect gift for this interlude weโ€™re all relishing.


Enjoy this thoughtfully vacant time by listening to Sixth Floor Memoriesโ€™ The Story of Jasmin Reeder. Iโ€™m sure you wonโ€™t regret it.

In the words of SFM, hereโ€™s my โ€œExitludeโ€:

I managed to insert the titles of every track on the LP into this review. Can you spot them allโ€ฆ?


Listen to ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š on the ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐˜†โ€™๐˜€ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š on the ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐˜†โ€™๐˜€ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to ๐™๐™๐™š ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™…๐™–๐™จ๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™๐™š๐™š๐™™๐™š๐™ง on Spotify HERE!

Listen to ๐™๐™๐™š ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™…๐™–๐™จ๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™๐™š๐™š๐™™๐™š๐™ง on Apple Music HERE!


Follow ๐™Ž๐™ž๐™ญ๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ˆ๐™š๐™ข๐™ค๐™ง๐™ž๐™š๐™จ on Instagram HERE!


Please share this post and let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or on Facebook HERE!



#review #song #songreview #SixthFloorMemories #Interlude #TheStoryofJasminReeder #pop #indie #NewYear #melody #SnowPatrol #PetShopBoys #lastof2021 #CharlesConnolly #ConnollysCorner #CC #IWantMyNAS

78 views10 comments

NAS Blog RSS

bottom of page