”Breach of the Peace,” Charlotte Church
Welsh singer Charlotte Church is also an actress and has hosted her own TV show in her native country. So what’s next? Well, release original music, of course! ”Breach of the Peace” is from her latest EP (Two), and contains songs that are very atmospheric. However, this tune showcases her impressive vocal range in the space of a three-minute pop song that has flavors of Florence + The Machine and Kate Bush. ”Breach of the Peace” is also thick with production that lends a certain weightiness to it — but it’s not so overblown that it goes from solid songwriting to bathetic overreach.
For fans of The Fray or even Bob Schneider, I think they will find OBB (which stands for Oswald Brothers Band) a welcome addition to their collection. ”Come On Home” is certainly a radio-friendly single that has ingredients that work well in CHR or Hot AC formats: a sense of earnestness in the vocals, a soaring chorus, and a building climax. Sometimes that combination works, and other times it doesn’t. Fortunately, for OBB the formula works on “Come On Home, and if they can gain some traction with this single, they’ll be able to reach a wider audience than their Christian rock fan base.
”Rotting on the Vine,” The Purrs
The Purrs have certainly baked their psychedelic sound down into a nice pop fluff. But I suppose being together in a band for 10 years will do that. ”Rotting on the Vine” is one the more insta-pop songs on their new record, The Boy with Astronaut Eyes, and it grabbed me from the first listen. Perhaps because it has so many familiar hooks in the song that I thought it was a cover of some long-lost 60s gem (it’s not). Rather, it’s a 2013 gem that have you spinning this song again and again.
”Smokescreen, Fabienne
Fabienne is listed as an independent artist, but if she sounds seasoned it’s because she was under contract with Def Jam for a few years. Also, when she was barely a teenager, she won a local talent competition that came with some recording time in a studio. Now? She’s 21 and getting ready to release a new album. And if the rest of the upcoming record is anything like her lead single, ”Smokescreen,” Fabienne is going to enjoy a quick ride to the top of the charts. You can tell that she’s been studying at The University of Soul and majoring in R&B. But what I like about this song is that she’s able to layer some very contemporary sounding vocal phrasing over tasty loops that are more unique and interesting than much of what’s on the CHR charts these days.
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