Ronan Andrews’ new solo EP Quarter Life Crisis features upbeat and bright pop with some groovy jazz and soul undertones that should please fans of Mayor Hawthorne or Silk Sonic.
There’s a happy, feel-good air about his songs, like the upbeat opening track “Dancing Like a Fool,” featuring a bouncing piano groove, full vocal harmonies and cool guitar licks. It gives “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5 feelings, especially when the piano plays lush, jazz-influenced chord changes.
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Holdfast.’s new album Movies brings their expected electro dark-pop and rock aesthetic but leans into other styles that open their doors to new fans.
Singer Charlie Maddocks demonstrates a dramatic contrast in dynamics, one that MUSE’s lead Matt Bellamy is well known for, though Maddocks’ tone is undoubtedly his own, becoming one of Colorado’s most recognizable lead vocals. Holdfast. continues to deliver strong songs while experimenting with new sounds and textures.
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Music seldom tells you what to imagine in a concrete, absolute way. It requires you to fill in the gaps — sometimes thin, sometimes wide. Young Habitat’s debut EP In First Person Perspective, is a meditation on this idea.
Riley Sbarna and saxophonist Hayden Farr (Trash Cat, The Burroughs) have long riffed about a potential musical collaboration, but the inspiration to finally follow through came from an unlikely source: the pandemic.
Though In First Person Perspective retains the emotional vulnerability of Sbrana’s previous work, the sonic landscape is a left turn. Understated vocals often devolve into heavily affected opacity. The instrumentation is reminiscent of lo-fi hip hop with frequent saxophone odysseys provided by Farr. It’s one part contemporary Bon Iver and one part Porches with a sprinkle of neo soul. It’s both melancholic and beautiful.
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“Under These Lights,” the new album from Denver’s Kaitlyn Williams, walks the line between neo soul and music for the masses, departing from the bedroom pop she showcased in her 2019 album and subsequent singles. A contributing factor to this shift in style is the live recording, which leaves less room for glittery production and more room for natural musicianship.
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Fort Collins-based Dead Man’s Alibi keeps a post-grunge metal sound while tossing in some blues on their debut. They have a classic early 2000’s sound, with some Alice in Chains mixed in on tracks like “Hole In A Hat,” and “Lowly Saint” which feature roaring guitars and rowdy drum grooves.
The vocals show some grit but shy away from the screaming and growling most bands these days employ. Epic guitar solos call up Judas Priest, but what makes Dead Man’s Alibi cool is the blues influence in their sound.
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Denver based Big Brooklyn begs the question “what is jazz?” with their new album Everyone Everywhere, in which every track dips a toe into different sub-genres underneath the jazz umbrella.
They have enough “straight ahead” stuff,but they also share some funky fusion you might hear from Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters era. Their incorporation of Melody Dornfeld on clarinet (and bass clarinet) lends a quirkier sound for a group that doesn’t focus on gypsy jazz or 1920’s repertoire.
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Nederland, Colorado’s Thom LaFond is most well known as the guitarist and singer in Denver’s four-piece gypsy jam rock outfit Banshee Tree. But on this, his debut full-length, he lets his inner voice shine.
Close, acoustic and intimate speckles of piano, pizzicato violin and nimble upright bass frame his hushed, masculine baritone with gorgeous minimalism; a composition on par with a Kandinsky.
“Did they take the moon you were after and give it back piece by piece?” the record’s first lyric asks, initiating a song and an album dense with gorgeous prose, artful arrangements and beautiful music.
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Eden’s reimagining of the Bush classic fits the song’s mystical and mysterious feelings of being in love by surrounding the listener with ambient synths and heavy reverbs. Justice’s vocals have a grungy texture reminiscent of Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, a nice call-back to the original.
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