Mick Birchall Reviews

It's always interesting to find a new artist. So many thoughts can come to light when you first hear their sound. Tristan Mackey 's new album Invisible Light  is a smooth sounding and lyrically powerful record. I have really liked discovering his music over the last week or so. He is an interesting artist, his soft folk stylings coupled with some great songwriting skills really sell him as a performer to me. His music is so nice on the ear, with his gentle vocal delivery carrying wonderful melodies with the excellent instrumentation providing an excellent atmosphere. As a performer I really like him and his new album is a great addition to his line up and, speaking from experience, a solid jumping on point to learn more about him. Invisible Light  shows so much diversity and range in Tristan's songwriting skill. Ranging from beautifully composed folk songs to more dynamic blues songs. It all comes off so well and you can feel his genuine passion for songwriting. I love ...

From a very young age, I was fascinated with country music. I think it was the first genre of music I really liked. When I was younger, I just loved to sit at my Dad's computer and listen to Mel McDaniels , Alabama and Dixie Chicks (I know that last one is on the pop side of the country genre, but that's kinda my point). I've always loved the dulcet tones, sweet melodies and beautifully honesty lyrical content. There's something about that sound that always gets me in a good way, maybe it's the simplicity of the sound or the way the lyrics can cut through the complicated feelings and ideas of this weird thing we call life. It's always a style of music that manages to stick in my head. It's also the genre I return to in the times of my life where I need a minute and recharge my emotions. Listening to that kind of music as a kid definitely shaped the sort of music that I listened to going forward. Now, I don't need everything song I listen to be a cou...

Sleaze Rock... The genre that represents excess and debauchery. For me, it can either be really good or really bad. Yet, I do try to listen to anything I can, in the world of rock, and this band crossed my radar pretty recently. Australian sleaze rockers, Snake Bite Whisky  are quickly making a name for themselves, mixing punk with hair-metal to crease their own signature style and It's pretty damn fun to listen to. Their new record This Side of Hell  is an exciting and energised record, sounding like that good old-fashioned hair rock from the late-80's and early-90's. Recorded at Sonic Clarity Studios in Australia with mixing and mastering completed in the US by Peter Rutcho, who has worked with artists such as Falling In Reverse, Parkway Drive, Deez Nuts, etc. So at the very least, you're getting an album with high-quality production value. From the very first moments of the album, I was excited to keep listening. Really from the personality alone, it's a prett...

For a while now I've had a great affinity for the band Evergrey . I first listened to them with their 2016 release, The Storm Within . Which completely blew me away, after that I started to listen to everything in their discography.  I was so impressed with their complex songwriting and rich sound that I really wanted to see them live to see if they were that good in a live setting. I got that chance when I went on holiday to Canada, as they were touring around the same time I went to the Toronto show and... Yeah, they were pretty amazing. I really just wanted to put that in context as for this first review in 2019, I'm taking a listen to their new album, The Atlantic . Which I have to admit, I've been waiting for since they announced that they were working on new material. So it was a treat to have the chance to listen to it prior to its release. The Swedish five-piece outfit waste little time on this record. Every moment matters and there isn't a single song that ...