Loud Sounds 13
Cover photo: from "Come Back Lover" video by Michael James feat. Aaron Durr
"Loud Sounds" are some of the best new tracks we've found. We are coming back with the thirteenth installment of the series.
Michael James – Come Back Lover (feat. Aaron Durr)
Michael James is a fiercely talented artist, mixer and record producer who has worked with legends like Chicago, New Radicals, Hole and Robben Ford. His excellent first solo album Marchesano focused on his guitar skills, while his new record "Shelter in Place" released by Alernator Records features a diverse cast of vocalists, instrumentalists and co-producers and puts Michael James the songwriter into the spotlight.
One of the highlights of the album is "Come Back Lover" co-written with Aaron Durr. The song is warm and soothing and features a soulful guitar solo and catchy chorus that you can't help singing along to.
Michael James is a fiercely talented artist, mixer and record producer who has worked with legends like Chicago, New Radicals, Hole and Robben Ford. His excellent first solo album Marchesano focused on his guitar skills, while his new record "Shelter in Place" released by Alernator Records features a diverse cast of vocalists, instrumentalists and co-producers and puts Michael James the songwriter into the spotlight.
One of the highlights of the album is "Come Back Lover" co-written with Aaron Durr. The song is warm and soothing and features a soulful guitar solo and catchy chorus that you can't help singing along to.
Michael James
Aaron and I were thinking about how life can change instantly, like it did during the pandemic. It was a social lockdown and people feared for their lives. We were thinking of it as analogous to the Berlin wall. You might ride your bicycle across town to pick up chocolate and flowers for your lover, turn around and be greeted by a newly erected wall. You couldn't get home, unless you risked your life. Even though we don't reference to Berlin wall in the song, we were thinking about the feeling that must've cost. Nonetheless, the two lovers will stop at nothing to try to find their way back to each other.
Aaron helped with a few other tracks on the album, including the new rendition of the pop standard "Fly Me to the Moon". Here's how Michael described the process: "Aaron knocked out "Fly Me To The Moon" in one take — while petting and crooning to Rosie, The Studio Cat! His playfulness translated to the record. He sings a "meow" melody to Rosie under my guitar solo. Many listeners think it's a muted trumpet, but it's Aaron, singing in cat language."
If you loved the single be sure to check out the full album "Shelter in Place".
Transient Lines – Voyager
We already featured "Calm Unrest" by Vienna-based producer Transient Lines, a track perfectly expressing what we called "the borderline state between meditation and focus". Now he has released an EP of the same name channeling a similar atmosphere. Here's how its standout track Voyager was inspired.
Max Lanzinger (Transient Lines): "At the time I wrote and produced Voyager I was listening to Rival Consoles a lot, who is a great inspiration for me. And I read a fabulous book called "The order of time" by physicist Carlo Rovelli which provided the space context and title in a way.
For me the track feels like a journey. So I would recommend listening to it while going somewhere by train or car. I think that the mood is not really clear and changes throughout the track. Kind of an all-weather, night and day track."
We already featured "Calm Unrest" by Vienna-based producer Transient Lines, a track perfectly expressing what we called "the borderline state between meditation and focus". Now he has released an EP of the same name channeling a similar atmosphere. Here's how its standout track Voyager was inspired.
Max Lanzinger (Transient Lines): "At the time I wrote and produced Voyager I was listening to Rival Consoles a lot, who is a great inspiration for me. And I read a fabulous book called "The order of time" by physicist Carlo Rovelli which provided the space context and title in a way.
For me the track feels like a journey. So I would recommend listening to it while going somewhere by train or car. I think that the mood is not really clear and changes throughout the track. Kind of an all-weather, night and day track."
Listen to the rest of the EP.
Enfant Sauvage – Time to Fall
Enfant Sauvage is none other than Guillaume Alric, one half of the French duo The Blaze famous not only for their own brand of hazy electronic music but also for their excellent videos exploring topics including masculinity, violence, traditions and family.
The self-directed video for "Time to Fall" follows in that vein. It shows a young woman at a party and the morning after, sharing the characters with Enfant Sauvage's successful debut "Silent Love".
Guillaume Alric: "For me this project has very personal and intimate inspiration. I'm speaking about people from the countryside, a more intimate experience. For the music, I tried to be less electronical. Because it is a story about the countryside, which is so organic to me, I wanted the music to sound more organic too."
Enfant Sauvage is none other than Guillaume Alric, one half of the French duo The Blaze famous not only for their own brand of hazy electronic music but also for their excellent videos exploring topics including masculinity, violence, traditions and family.
The self-directed video for "Time to Fall" follows in that vein. It shows a young woman at a party and the morning after, sharing the characters with Enfant Sauvage's successful debut "Silent Love".
Guillaume Alric: "For me this project has very personal and intimate inspiration. I'm speaking about people from the countryside, a more intimate experience. For the music, I tried to be less electronical. Because it is a story about the countryside, which is so organic to me, I wanted the music to sound more organic too."
Watch the debut video as well.