Mac Murray – Magic
A few weeks ago I saw Kings of Leon at Leeds Festival (bare with me here), and they were atrocious, their new songs especially completely lacking life or any emotion. Mac Murray‘s ‘Magic’ is the exact sound of where I wish Kings of Leon were in 2018. It’s bright, yet emotional with a pulling power that made it impossible for me to turn it off even if I wanted to. I think it’s the voice of Mac Murray that I love above all, rich and powerful like The Glorious Sons, carrying such feeling behind it. The song is a soft wave for 4 minutes, gorgeous and layered, a great listen.
Cursive – Under The Rainbow
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Back again with a single from their eighth album are US indie rockers, Cursive. With twists and turns in their instrumentals and an epic battle between vocals and guitars to be the stars of the show, they have crafted a heartfelt and unpredictable sonic ride. ‘Under The Rainbow’ just gets better as it goes on, with the ending kicking off into an emo punk fuzzed up burst of action, worthy of matching the lyrics that have spanned the rest of the song. Listen to Cursive and tell me how they don’t get all the credit for inspiring Twenty One Pilots?
Liliac – Chain Of Thorns
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The absolute cheek of this band for being so young yet so talented! Sam, Melody, Aby, Ethan, Justin, all kids with far more talent and determination than is good for them. Powering their way to the front of this song are the vocals of lead singer Melody who fully captures the power of Lzzy Hale’s singing chops with influence from Ronnie James Dio clear. From a musical standpoint, ‘Chain Of Thorns’ isn’t reinventing the wheel, fitting firmly in the hard-rock sub genre with it’s squealing guitars, chugging drums and big chorus, but I can’t help but be astounded at the charm of this young family. I was a similar age to the older members of Liliac when I started by first band, and god knows we sounded nowhere near this good.
Looking For Lucas – Anne Marie
When bringing you these singles, my aim is to always feature songs that do something a bit different or have that one thing that makes them worthy of a bit of your time. Looking For Lucas stood out to me with their modernising of 60s pop-rock, think The Beatles meet The Black Keys. ‘Anne Marie’ is fast paced, in and out before you notice bringing an array of sounds and instruments to the mix. Like the best of feel good tunes, it exudes charm and makes you want to dance about, revisiting the 60s but never lacking a freshness, a skill that many bands fail at.
Check out the songs I covered using the playlists below! As always, if you’re in a band and would like to be covered in our ‘Singles Only’ feature, please head to submithub.com for more information.
