Last year’s ‘Broken Heart Still Beats’ by Ms Ray was as pure a slice of steely modern soul as could be. So when a new track popped up by the lady herself, ears were truly primed. But, this wasn’t all, ‘Signs’ was in fact part of a new selection of music from the folks at Scenic Route called Road Less Travelled Vol.2.
It’s aptly named, a wonderful mixed bag of vocal styles and electronic and acoustic tempos that’s made for taking in the view, not lazy shortcuts to short term fixes. Across the twenty tracks, there are immediate hits like the aforementioned ‘Signs’ a super hooky piece of chord powered contemporary pop that touches all the right notes without ever feeling cliched or derivative. Or Pelin Pelin’s ‘Foamy’, a soulful excursion built around a jazzy breakdown and whistled close. Or maybe E Prime’s super bright ‘Somebody Else’, more quirky but deep music that hits strong.
Fan of the slow burn? Its catered for with Olan Monk and Max Winter. The latter’s ‘Don’t Live Inside’ finger picks and slides into your consciousness. Meanwhile, Ety’s ‘This Town’ is an unconventional anthem in the making, softly sung and accompanied by a searching guitar. Darker edges are present as the journey enters night time, Tony Bontana x Will Lister do ‘A Long While’ a simple spoken-rap-sung story of lost love over a loping stretched out beat. Meanwhile MA.MAYO raps over icy breaks in ‘Cave’. Each track is a unique take, often simple in construction but immersive and alluring all the same.
‘Road..Vol.2’ is just that, never obvious and certainly offbeat, revealing new and alluring perspectives that remain in the memory and reward return visits.
