Posts tagged Swansea Pop Music
Review: "Wildfire" EP by Hawthorn Avenue
 
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Hawthorn Avenue's debut EP' Wildfire', is an impressive first-offering from the South Wales duo. Produced to perfection, the duo have a fully orchestrated quartet of finely-crafted Country/Pop numbers.

Before we get in to it, you know you're off to a good start when a release opens with a Hammond.

I loves me a Hammond.

'Raised Me Better' kicks off the EP. A stately and expansive composition with understated harmonies throughout that give the track a delightful spaciousness. The significant production does nothing to diminish the touching quality to the intimate, personal lyrics and allows for them to sit neatly on top of the mix with oodles of clarity.

Moving on to 'Fade Away', the EP's dynamic drops down further into decidedly Fleetwood Mac meets Civil Wars-esque territory. The unison vocals throughout blossoming beautifully into perfectly orchestrated harmonies that are arranged to great effect throughout the track to lend weight to certain refrains. Spacious and scrumptious, I particularly enjoyed the subtle, uncomplicated acoustic guitar solo. I'm not a 'solo' kind of guy, but the call-and-response of the acoustic and bright, slightly Tremolo'ed electric is a gorgeous addition to the composition.  

'The Water's Edge', continues to bring down the dynamic. A low-key, sweetly arranged ballad with a nicely chosen analogy running throughout that wouldn't look amiss in a James Taylor/Carol King collaboration.

We've reviewed the title track previously, which is honestly a perfect closer for the EP, and on this return listen - and I'm quite possibly I'm into triple figures now... - it proves no exception. It's a confident number, surprisingly nuanced, and those glistening, driven guitar melodies throughout provide a cutting edge to the track that serves to neatly and memorably bring the EP to a close.

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Check out Hawthorn Avenue’s debut EP ‘Wildfire’ on Spotify and iTunes now.

by Joe Bayliss

 
 
Artist of the week: Eleri Angharad
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Happy Halloween! Someone who’s certainly not spooky in the slightest and someone who we’re big fans of here at the Swansea Music Hub is Eleri Angharad. We’ve highlighted musicians in the past who go above and beyond for the music scene in Swansea and Eleri is no exception.

It’s highly likely that you’ve seen Eleri play live - she’s definitely one of the most dedicated Swansea musicians when it comes to gigging and often can be seen at others’ gigs, offering further support to the scene! Inspired by a North American road trip she took as a teenager, Eleri perfectly blends US country influenced tunes, with Welsh folk and catchy pop melodies.

Provided to YouTube by IIP-DDS This Ship · Eleri Angharad This Ship ℗ Eleri Angharad, distributed by Spinnup Released on: 2018-10-26 Artist: Eleri Angharad A...

Last Friday, Eleri released her newest single ‘This Ship’ - which to be fair I’ve listened to three times in a row because it’s so good. There are so many lush layers to it, the lyrics are really well thought out and clearly shows her influence of US Country Music (drawing on the likes of James Taylor, Kacey Musgraves & early Taylor Swift).

Her early releases are also really great, catchy country/pop tunes. One that stood out for me (and I remember loving at the time of it’s release) is ‘Stuck on You’. I particularly love the lap steel & the organ - pure country vibes.

Eleri time and time again proves that she is on top of her game when it comes to songwriting and playing live. We’re super excited to hear her album ‘Earthbound’ which you can follow the progress of on her blog & we’re super excited for what the future holds for Eleri!

Written by: Simon Parton