(((S))))
Maverick
Copenhagen, Denmark
(((S))))'s new album is a classic indie rock album yet showcases his artistic talents through slipping into alternative styles, making his music quite diverse and appealing to a vast amount of people.
(((S)))) crafts the catchy and distinctive parts of his songs through the backing track, using catchy guitar riffs and drums to keep a steady beat and help the song flow with slight elements of synth to help. I particularly enjoyed the musical aspects of ‘Big black beautiful bird’, the repeating guitar chords as the focus of the melody with its electrical and aggressive aspects make this track a classic indie rock hit. This musical choice is the same in ‘Nighttrain to nowhere’ which has the guitar as the centerpoint of the music, yet with vocals in pleasing harmony to this distinctive beat to make those lyrics really stand out. There is also a particularly sweet undertone to the vocals, making them quite pacifying in style.
Some tracks also present more ominous aspects through the dissonance in the music, particularly in ‘Dreams die, but you don’t’ and ‘Summer’/winter’. There seems to be a theme of alternating from classic indie rock to more darker tones with sounds of distortion in the backing track. It is a credit to (((S))))'s artistic capabilities that he can slip into alternative styles of more suspenseful music yet keep the fundamentals of indie rock at its core.
My favourite tracks of the album are ‘Mama, do you think it's gonna rain all day?’ and ‘Don’t mess with my mantra’ as (((S))))'s vocals really shone through here and gave us a wider look at his artistic talent. There were quite mellow undertones to the lyrics, intertwined with the accompaniment of hymns which really made the catchy lyricism shine.
Some tracks also have a subtle retro feel to the musicality. This was quite prevalent in ‘Touch my heart - touch my soul’ due to the different styles of guitar work, really plucking that melody line to give it more of a distinctive feel, which I felt was a nice addition.
(((S)))) has this great ability to showcase important and powerful messages in his songs, as seen in and ‘Time is a thief’, he alludes to the fact each day we are closer to death, and how we will all run out of time eventually through his repeating lyrics of ‘dead man walking’.
Even with the occasional wander into more darker sounds, (((S))))'s album is quite cohesive in the way that all tracks embody the same themes. I found this particularly visible in ‘Sometimes it takes someone like you’ and ‘Ballet of the wolves’ which through the careful crafting of electric guitar riffs and occasional slips into drumfire, encompass the best elements of indie rock music.