Certainty - Temples

Temples released their debut album in 2014 and it was so good that I found it unlistenable. There are some cracking tracks on that album; Shelter Song is a glorious Summer wooze, Mesmerise has a riff so sharp you can carve your Sunday roast with it, Colours to Life is a forever cascading chorus crashing around my head. The list of superlatives goes on, yet I never bought the album nor listened to it further than two or three full play throughs. There was something missing to my ears. The album was a brilliant collection of songs, but a collection none the less. Something didn't bring those songs together to create a full body of work I wanted to listen through again and again, something I wanted to own and dedicate an evening to. It's odd but the fact that every song on the album could have been the lead single made it seem like a bit of a disjointed mess. 

    
Certainty has been chosen to be the lead single for Temples' upcoming LP, Volcano and it doesn't disappoint. There's been a musical shift and it is inevitably going to bring comparisons to Tame Impala, comparisons which I am not going to dwell on here because although they are justified, the move from rock to pop is not a rare one nor a sellout and Temples have done it their own way, no need to bring Tame Impala into things. 

It starts with a killer, if slightly corny, deep synth (bass?) riff before moving into a glowing realm of squelching synths and almost candy pop style vocals and instrumentation. Just wait for the chorus. It's a bombardment of high-pitched vocals, high-pitched synths, clunking drums - I love it! 

It's a great teaser for the album and I for one am looking forward to some psychedelic pop. I just hope that this album is not quite as good as the last...

Temples
Certainty
Heavenly
Certainty will be featured on the album, Volcano, available as a CD or Vinyl LP: 03/03/2017 at Heavenly 

Wide Eyed Love - Bronwen Lewis

Granted, it has been a bit quiet here at The Irregular Riff (so do be sure to give the Facebook page a follow for some less irregular musical musings), however at Irregular Riff HQ (yes, my bedroom...) there's been the near constant sound of joyful whistling in the air and a permanent smile etched across my face, my cheeks sore with an ever widening grin and me powerless to do anything about it. Since it was released nearly a fortnight ago, I've been simply chuffed every time I listen to Wide Eyed Love, the debut single from Bronwen Lewis' debut album, Home, to be released later this month. 

Now, to any readers who don't know me personally (aka Kevin in Stockport - keep on the funk Kev!) I should explain that it's super strange for me to be writing anything about Bronwen Lewis. Bronwen has always just been Bron to me because she's one of my oldest friends (since the age of 3 along with the rest of the CC Crew - you know who you are) and to finally see her achieving what she's been striving for is brilliant. 

I hope this doesn't get too soppy as I know there's nothing Bron and myself hate more than that but inevitably I'm gonna say some embarrassing stuff so apologies to Bron as I scupper any chance she has at fame by revealing all those embarrassing stories from primary and secondary school. Sorry Bron.  

Nah, won't do that, too many, too little time. 

Let's just get to the music. My initial reaction to watching the video for the first time was, "Bloody 'ell, what's she done to her hair!", but that might be because I haven't seen Bron in awhile. You're not able to dwell on anything as trivial as that for very long though as the music sweeps you up and carries you along through a dark, shrouded mystery of a track, with Bronwen's vocals piercing through like shards of comforting light. 

Bron's voice has always been brilliant right since choir in primary school and here it has a magnetism that really creates drama, raises the curtain and puts you and her centre stage. There's an intimacy and vulnerability throughout that immediately draws the listener to its raw honesty, but there's also a surging defiance in the chorus that hooks you in and gets you punching the air. 

The chorus is what'll be bouncing around your head for hours after you've turned the track off - it's super catchy, almost power-ballad like and is guaranteed to have people pouring their heart out at the steering wheel of their cars. The vocal harmonies and the fading echoes remind me a little of the operatic drama that Amy Lee of Evanescence had in her dark pop tunes - so it looks like those 15 year old Emo days that we went through aren't quite over then Bron!  

So whilst not wanting to sound like a complete numpty, Wide Eyed Love gave me a massive sense of pride. It's a great debut and any success that goes Bron's way is deserved; what with the 6/7 days a week gigging and the fact that she is completely self taught and writes and performs herself. Check out all of her social medias, she's a right laugh, and tracks from her EP below. Get over to Amazon and pre-order her album, coming out on the 18th of November.  

http://www.bronwen-lewis.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/BronSaraLewis/

  

Da iawn Bron, gwelai di am bint o gwrw yn Spoons cyn bo' hir beii!  

Bronwen Lewis

Wide Eyed Love

Gwymon

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