𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 - this week: Tarot (Dark Version) - The Blindfold Experience, Liz James

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.

𝙏𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙩 (𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣) - 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙇𝙞𝙯 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨

Charles deals the cards…

Are you religious? Are you spiritual? Do you believe (in life after l- shut up, Cher)? Is there a Heaven and a Hell? Will God reward you for your good deeds on Earth? Will the Devil smite you for being a bad, bad girl. Do you believe in witchcraft? Do you believe in magic? Do you believe in fate? Do you believe in destiny? What about séances, tea leaves, and fortune tellers? Are you superstitious? Very superstitious? If so, there's nothing more to say; the devil’s on his way… Do EYE believe in any of this...? I feel that one of the biggest problems almost all of us incur in life is the very thing that can sway one towards belief. Which in turn usually enhances said incurrence. And what is it…? Fear. Fear is rife. Fear is everywhere, and with all of us, pretty much. Fear of doing the wrong thing. Fear of making the wrong decision. Fear of spending too much money. Fear of not having enough money. Fear of letting someone down. Fear of climate change. Fear of harm. Fear of world politics. Fear of natural disasters. Fear of what others might think. Fear of God. Fear of the future. And THIS is the crux of the matter. The future. Fear of the consequence. Good old conscience making life more difficult than it already is.

Fear is the darker side of worry. Imagine you're extremely worried and concerned about things. I know your life is blissfully perfect in every way, but try to imagine that. Humour me. Say you've asked your family and friends for advice and that didn't help. Say you've sought help from a therapist and that still didn't do the trick. Say you turned to God, and unsurprisingly you yet again got the answerphone. What do you do? Leap off a nearby bridge? Turn to drink and acquire the nickname “Rummy”? You could try God again, but even if you were to get through (fat chance), it’s a bit like cheating (or what I like to call cribbage). Surely there's another option... How's about an intermediate? A medium… A translator of sorts… You stumble upon an advert for Madame Canasta: “a solver of all, but beware, you might not like the outcome… The answer lies within the cards” - hardly sounds tempting, but what have you got to lose? Tarot: has it really come to this…? You’ve run out of options. It’s a bit of a gamble, but gambling can have its rewards. Normally gambling is whether you should back a horse or back a rat - depending on the game. But this gamble is simply whether you choose to go or not. Okay, we’ll go. But don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Her name is baked into the stained glass window of her front door; an old door that has frankly seen better days. It is ajar as you reach to knock. You walk in unannounced, lightly brushing your shoulder against the door, causing dried paint flakes to chip and fall to the green carpet within. This too has seen better days. There is a thick heady scent of incense and rose perfume. This house is fascinating; Victoriana at its finest. It is calm and quiet, yet also slightly terrifying. You get the feeling that Madame Canasta predominantly leads a life of solitaire. Right at the foot of the staircase pointing to upward darkness, stands a man-size gorilla. It is stuffed, but I still find myself staring at it for a while, as if its eyes are going to turn towards mine. “Come right through”, calls a melodious voice from the right. Madame Canasta pops her eager head out into the hall, glassy blue eyes and purple eyeshadow; she is draped from neck to ankle in velvet of violet and emerald. “Ah, I see you’ve met my furry friend. Jack, say hello to the nice visitor. That’s Black Jack, by the way. He doesn’t speak much but he scares away would-be thieves. Do come in and sit down. I would offer you something to drink, but it can interrupt the aura, as I’m sure you know”. Bewildered, you do as you are told. You sit; you don’t drink. Okay, so she’s weird, but her heart’s in the right place. The fireplace is as one might expect in a place like this: adorned. One rogue brass poker lies dusty on the charred hearth. As you start to ask various questions (all of which remaining unanswered), she switches from elegant, easy charm to ruthless, hard urgency. “Whist!!”, she did all but snap. This apparently means she wishes you to be quiet. What is it with these people and archaisms…? As she reaches for a pack of cards from a small round side-table (also velvet topped), you feel yourself start to sweat a little. Under the tasseled tablecloth, you rub your palms against your thighs with quite forceable pressure. Up, dowwwn. Up, dowwwn. Due to your visible tension, she lays one card on your right. It is The Sun. You show your inquisitive nature by raising both eyebrows. Madame Canasta insists this is good news, and that all will be well with you very soon. You pause the rubbing. Is that a smile on your face? You feel relief already! Card number two is laid on your left. She immediately gasps and drags her chair backwards, tearing the rug beneath. You’re guessing that’s probably not more good news… Guessing correctly, the image on the card is in fact The Devil. She demands that you leave immediately and that you never return. Realising how visibly shaken she is, you do as she says. Wait a sec… That cost you £90!!! On your way back home, you realise that Madame Canasta is an anagram of Adamance’s Mata. The mother of adamance: “The quality of being unwilling to change one's mind or decision, even in the face of persuasion”. GOD she’s good.

Enough Tarot…? We’ve only just begun! It’s been a while since I reviewed a song of genuinely, impressively epic proportions. It’s time for one of those. Don’t you think so? Well either way, here it is. It’s collab time! Please welcome The Blindfold Experience and Liz James, with their first joint effort, Tarot. Firstly, let me just say that these two cats have been impressive in their own right for many years. I believe I have known them both for around 5 years - the very beginning of the New Artist Spotlight. The Blindfold Experience is a funny concoction. It consists of Michael Lind and whoever he deems suitable for that specific track - the choices vary, but the quality always remains high. Liz James is perhaps better known for two other things. She’s the lead singer, guitarist and writer for a band called Bad Scullianz, and she is the voice and host of our very own weekly show as part of the NAS Top 20 Chart: Pick Their Sculls. Michael is known for being quiet, charming, polite, modest and reserved (despite his music being heavy as hell). Liz is known for being fun, cheeky, exuberant, silly and blunt (hence her music being heavy as hell). She’s also one of the few remaining smokers out there - delighted. Michael has the best beard in all the land. Liz has the second best beard in all the land. No, no - scratch that. Thankfully, she leaves that to Michael. Liz releases solo singles rarely. Lately it’s been about one song a year. It’s a pretty similar story with Michael too. The good thing is, when either of them does release something, it is not mediocre. It is something that has taken a lot of time, effort, talent, and many hands. And it is always worth the wait. I didn’t know they were to be working together on a song, so this surprise came as a treat for me. But it was actually not really a surprise, because the match is so right and so natural. I’m kind of amazed it has never happened before.

Tarot was not born in 2025. It first came to light on Liz’s 2021 album, The Dining Room at Milner. Yep, most of you probably never even realised she had released any solo work. It is NOTHING like her stuff with Bad Scullianz. It’s her alter-ego: singer-songwriter. Michael evidently liked the song, but heard its potential in being something different. Together they forged something truly remarkable. Although clearly the same song (in a way - it’s recognisable), this was to be something completely new. Something that blends all of their egos (even Michael’s modest one). It’s rock, it’s pop, it’s ballad, it’s THEATRE!! It’s driven guitars, drums and THRUST! But it’s also sneaky and devious, musically. And the most beautiful strings and piano?? It’s as if Kate Bush was influenced by Queen. I suppose there’s a lot of prog in there - maybe that’s why it appeals to me so much. Prog is what makes rock interesting. Key changes that shouldn’t work but really do. Dissonance that doesn’t read like dissonance. Changes that one genuinely doesn’t see coming. Surprise at every turn. I am not sure if anyone would argue, but I am convinced this is Liz’s greatest vocal recording. The softer bits are still gritty, and oh-so tight and bitey. Her backing vocals are so pro, as are the harmonies (yes, there’s a subtle difference between backing vocals and harmonies). This girl’s got girth and depth. Such confidence, but never showy. Pure passion! But when she soars, she’s like a guided missile locked on to her target. And the target is us. One of the great rock voices. As to Michael…? Well, he was born a Viking, and still occasionally likes to wear the helmet. During this recording he evidently DID wear said helmet - it shows in his tenacious playing. I say tenacious playing, but it actually wasn’t him playing the guitar on the track…

This “Dark Version” of Tarot was kinda written by the two of them, as you can tell. Michael sits very well (perfect posture) wearing the producer hat (when not wearing the helmet). He is responsible for the piano, the keyboards and the drums. Put it this way: Michael is a mountain of talent. Another artist on the record is Daniele Belli, who played clean guitars, as well as some extra piano and keyboard parts. And then there’s Ilia Neverov: the man behind all those amazing distorted lead guitars. And finally to complete the band, there's Dhani Vicky, who wrote and recorded the incredible string parts. Now, with all these intertwining parts, it is very easy for the end result to be a fudgy, cacophonous mess. This needed to be handled with care. And of course, as with the best mixing engineers, it ain’t just mixing. Without tweaks, things simply will not fall into place. Call it “prepping”. I’d like to say Michael called on me, but he didn’t - Huh! (joking, Michael). Which is just as well because should he have done, as with God, he probably would have got the answerphone (“please leave a message after the beeee bap-bap-badab-bop, I’m a scatman”)… Luckily, NAS member Andres Guazzelli was doing little more than trimming his toenails and catching up on past Eurovision performances. He welcomed the break from the monotonous ennui (last year’s winner). And so they set to work. You see, with music like this, the mix is just as important as the production. And what was the result? 100% success, of course!! Oh, and I mentioned strings and piano: I’ll leave it to you to discover it all for yourself. Breathtaking!

For me this is without a doubt the very best I have heard from either Michael or Liz.

Don't worry, whether there is or isn't an afterlife, let your conscience do the heavy lifting.

Take a gamble, but play your cards right - hands up or hands down.

Listen to 𝙏𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙩 (𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣) on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙏𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙩 (𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣) on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!

Listen to 𝙏𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙩 (𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣) on YouTube HERE!

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