“This regular feature will review new songs available on the iTunes music store. The songs are chosen only from the new releases, not necessarily new singles heard on the radio. Ratings are based on one to five stars, just as they would be reviewed on iTunes.”
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This regular feature will review new songs available on the iTunes music store.

The songs are chosen only from the new releases, not necessarily new singles heard on the radio.

Ratings are based on one to five stars, just as they would be reviewed on iTunes.

The Heavy Circles – Henri

A gentle college alternative song with a ranged female singer, Henri offers airy guitars mixed with a staccato style of lyricism. 

The violin accompaniment with Edie Brickell’s raspy call to the title namesake feel gothic, yet the rest of the song has a more southern European feel to its style.

The verses are grating as they rise and fall in quick tones over and over, to coincide with the guitars, but Brickell’s voice and non-verse portions of the tune keep it afloat.

A decent and promising song with some faults.

OneRepublic – Stop and Stare

A great single from a band flying under the mainstream radar of major radio stations,

Stop and Stare, indulges the listener in qualities of rock that have been around for fifty years, and yet breaks free from distortion, garbled lyrics and screams in order to reflect the passion and emotion singer Ryan Tedder and his musicians invoke. 

The struggle the singer grants the lyrics with his raw talent in this tune really showcases his struggle to come to grips in failures and missteps in his life and that he is ready to live better.

I think I’m moving but I go nowhere / You start to wonder why you’re here not there / Can you see what I see? come the distraught words of the chorus.  Verses settle down to explore meaning in the singer’s life.

A profoundly great song from a young band’s debut album.

Supreme Beings of Leisure – Swallow

A Californian electronica band constructed of former members of Oversoul 7, who’s third album most popular song on iTunes is Swallow. 

The tune starts slow, methodic, and builds toward the strong, eerie tones that fill the song. 

The style of music is similar to earlier efforts of Skinny Puppy and Front 242, but Supreme Beings’ lead singer Geri Soriano keep the song more mainstream and lighter than industrial bands.

The music seems to jump from one sound to another as the tune progresses without reason.

Yet the overall rhythm remains and helps to contain the song until the very end, as it crescendos out as quickly as it built in its opening.

Good, but not the best representation of this genre.

Wolfkin – The Great Divide

Danes Lars Vognstrup and Kristian Godtfredsen’s dual effort is an unusual blend of synthesis and electric guitar, but melds well with their vocals.

The song just cannot fit into any specific categories, sitting somewhere between The Afghan Whigs and Devo, but with the seriousness of the former and the willingness to experiment of the latter.

The smooth vocal talents make the song impressive, the synthetic sounds and guitar styling are unique and the English is fantastic for a band whose release first hit Denmark and Germany.

Well worth a listen and will end up on many alternative fans’ playlists.

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