The Music Note

The last time I saw John Mayer live was in 2010, when he embarked on his first ever UK arena tour, in support of fourth studio album - 2009's  Battle Studies . The past three years has seen Mayer undergo surgery for a throat condition, and subsequently go on to release 2012's Born And Raised , followed by Paradise Valley  just over a year later. Admittedly, I haven't been overly enthralled with any of the studio albums released since 2006's Continuum . While I feel that Battle Studies  lacks the strength and consistency of  Continuum , I viewed it as a transitional album, and envisioned that his next release would be more along the lines of a John Mayer Trio inspired studio record, or even something of a jazz-orientated genre. As it is, the last two releases have had a mostly country sound, with both albums having a more 'quiet' feel than any of his previous efforts. This is by no means a criticism, there are standout tracks on both records, particularly Born An...

Josh Rouse's Bedroom Classics series could certainly be viewed as a collection of lost treasures among his broad catalogue of full length records. The EPs, which are comprised of three separate volumes, have been gradually released over the course of his fifteen-year career, appearing perhaps, somewhat quietly in between his ten studio albums. Though brief in duration at about five tracks per volume, all of the EPs vary in genre, with volumes one and three also featuring demos of tracks that would eventually appear on later studio releases. In this post, I will be focusing on 2005's  Bedroom Classics, Vol. 2 , the first album to be released on Rouse's independent Bedroom Classics label. Inspired by Rouse's love of film scores, the EP, of which two of the five tracks are instrumental, has a moody and atmospheric tone running throughout. The spacious arrangements and rich instrumentation on 'The Last Train' are so endearing, they are somehow more effective at ...

Ahead of next week's release of fourth studio album,  Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action , Franz Ferdinand returned to London last night to play a sold-out gig at Electric Brixton. The intimate performance, in which tickets were initially only available to purchase through a lottery, marks the band's first London gig since 2009 - the same year that saw the release of their last studio album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand . After four years, and as a long-time fan of the band, I was eager to hear the new songs, along with material from past albums, in a live setting. The band emerged to a cheering crowd at 9:30pm and wasted no time in getting the set underway with lead single 'Right Action', from the upcoming album. This was followed by 'No You Girls' and the harmonious, bass driven grooves of 'Tell Her Tonight'. New songs 'Bullet' and 'Love Illumination' suggest a return to the former sounds of their first two records, with strong ...

Taken from his 2006 album Better Things , Jonah Werner's 'Falling Star' is an excitable fusion of wistful vocals and dreamy melodies. Werner's direct lyrics and rhythmic vocal delivery effortlessly leads the song from verse to bridge, though it's the sweeping choruses, complete with uplifting backing harmonies, that are the true defining moments of the track.

On 'Quarter Life Crisis', James Craise's soulful vocals deliver lyrics that are raw and honest. Lines like "Dreading Sunday, knowing that it's Monday / When I wake, it's more than I can take" are universally relatable, and succeed in being comforting rather than pessimistic. Though this is mostly due to Craise's impressively powerful vocal range, the track has a strong, flowing structure that adds further depth to the lyrics. A delicate piano is the dominating instrument, while strings and unison vocals add an effective intensity and richness to the song.

Glorious melodies and unpredictable hooks are a plenty on Red Sails' 'Looking Out To Sea'. The track offers up a sublime mix of sounds, from smooth guitars and tinkering keys to crashing drums, all of which flow effortlessly alongside soulful vocals and backing harmonies. Though the song is instantly addictive, solid production results in further interesting elements - both instrumentally and structurally - being revealed upon each additional listen.

Playing Wembley Stadium is a feat few bands achieve in their career, but for The Killers, last Saturday's gig at the 90,000-capacity venue holds further sentiment in that it marks a decade since the band's first ever UK gig, at intimate club, The Dublin Castle in Camden. In those ten years, the band have released four studio albums, ranked up 20 million worldwide record sales and played countless festival headlining slots, all of which have culminated to this mammoth gig at Wembley - their largest performance to date. The band took to the stage just before 9:00pm, with Brandon Flowers playing 'Enterlude' solo on the piano. The set then got underway with fan favourite 'When You Were Young', followed by the equally energetic 'Spaceman'. Flowers' vocals were on top form throughout the two-hour gig, though it was the Battle Born material that really demonstrated his range, most evidently on 'The Way It Was' and 'Miss Atomic Bomb' - both...