Kurt's Music Reviews

[Kurt]

Hello! I'll make this opening post look nicer later, but I wanted to start this thread on a whim to, er, force myself to start writing reviews again. I'd been considering it for a while after taking a few months off due to other work, and the new addition to the forum provides a good reason for that.

For now, you can read some of my earlier reviews here: kurttrowbridge.com/reviews/ I'll be linking to my reviews there as I write them (where they're formatted more cleanly), but I'll post them in full here too if you don't want to click through.

While I prefer only to review newly-released music, I'm very open to your suggestions (whether albums, EPs, or singles), so feel free to leave them and I'll take a listen and see if I have enough thoughts on it to give it a full review - otherwise, I'll just post more brief thoughts here.


Hopefully upcoming/planned reviews:
Betty Who - Take Me When You Go
Alex & Sierra - It's About Us
Jesse McCartney - In Technicolor
Sir Sly - You Haunt Me
Nikki Yanofsky - Little Secret
Martin Luke Brown - "Nostalgia"
Cooper Phillip - "Silence"
Elle King - "Ex's & Oh's"

[Kurt]

Single Review: Martin Luke Brown – “Nostalgia”
kurttrowbridge.com/reviews/martin-luke-brown-nostalgia/



Nostalgia is usually an enjoyable look back at the highlights of yesteryear, now digitally championed in BuzzFeed lists and Twitter hashtags, but the theme is given a darker twist in the debut single from UK singer-songwriter Martin Luke Brown. “Would the kid you used to be still be proud of you?” he asks before continuing to question old memories and whether those memories act as a catalyst for action or become haunting, restrictive shackles. He sings a wistful reminder that nostalgia isn’t always a positive action — that looking back can sometimes get you stuck in the past, rather than moving forward; and that the dreams and passions built as a child may have been eroded by the struggles of the adult world. For Brown, though, “Nostalgia” is a powerful pop single, whose reflective, relatable lyrics are accompanied by keyboards and light percussion that recall the styles of OneRepublic and Mikky Ekko, making it a likely positive catalyst for a formidable music career.

[Kurt]

Allow me to exhume this tragically unused thread: I reviewed Charles Kelley (of Lady Antebellum)'s debut solo album, The Driver, out tomorrow, for The Shotgun Seat. theshotgunseat.com/charles-kelley-travels-new-territory-with-impressive-solo-debut