poppedmusic

Noah

Released 22nd July 2013

OK so at first I wasn’t all that keen on lead single Noah, not for what it sounds like but because of its biblical references, I’m not really into all that stuff if I’m honest but this has been cleverly done and doesn’t come across all Christian Rock or preachy. So I’ll move past the religious notes and pick out the things that I do like. The music – every note, every placement. The vocal, strong but showing vulnerability when needed to connect with the listener, not an easy thing to manage. I also need to point out the lyrics that do grab me; “get busy living or get busy dying oh I’d hate to see you left behind”. How very poignant and these words are also almost spat out and a hint of an accent can be heard here too which gives a smack of truth and personal feeling.

There are times when I don’t even make it half way through a song to know that I’m going to love it. The first time I heard Kites I knew, in fact something was already dancing inside before the vocals started and when they did I think my heart made a little leap for joy.

Kites offers up effortless and enchanting guitar melody and then those vocals come in stealing a little bit of my breath away, especially those that eventually throw themselves so high and are caught and grounded with deeper harmonies. There’s a touch of melancholy that runs around with reckless abandon but this song feels far from depressing because it’s so beautiful.

I saw the title Little Ghost and the child in me instantly thought “Casper!” but no this is no song for reminiscing about childhood cartoons . It does a good job of not sounding whispery and haunting, which would be the easiest and laziest route to go down. Instead here the band hit a real pace and a bit of a indie rock out before hitting a more tender point and building back up. The vocals already have a naturally ethereal quality to them anyway but the cacophony of sounds that comes together toward the end certainly gives the whole track more of an edge.

Finally we meet the ever so slightly darker side of Amber. The pace of Champion, starts out a little dirty and sleazy sounding. This builds nicely into something  with a little more pace and grit. It allows Amber’s singer to show that he’s not all about the pretty folky soaring vocal but that he can also lay on more oomph when the occasion calls for it (though it does at times sound a little stretched but oh the potential!).

The potential of this young band (the eldest is 20) is just making my mind giddy with possibility. These tracks already sketch out a path that is going to take them to places they don’t even know exist yet and I can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

Listen to Noah EP here: