JAW came to me via twitter with two simple links thanks to my general thinking aloud over how unappreciated the Final Fantasy X-2 OST is. He replied with this:
Vocaloid’s doing VGM? Surely this is not legal! What’s more is this beautiful pretend track from Final Fantasy XV – it’s a lovely mashup of previous styles into one. This is one composer I’m really looking forward to hearing more from!
A City On A Lake is the monkier for Alex Wong, a man whose wonderful instrumental and vocal talents I first came across on Vienna Teng’s most recent album “Inland Territory”. Now going out on his own, he’s just released his first solo album in July. Here’s the excellent music video for the disarmingly devastating single “Oceanside” which also features Ximena Sariñana.
Copperfox are a lovely duo whom weave delicate melodies around lead vocalists Lisa’s soft hushed vocals.
Opener “James” shows perfectly how the duo use their guitars, bass and drum loops to create a wonderful swinging bliss, especially in the second half of the track where the song starts to dissipate into echoes. It’s thoughtful and emotive. “Lover” continues the trend with its whiny almost country-esque guitar warbles. The closest I can really place Copperfox to in my musical collection is Tanya Donnelly. It’s like grown up thought provoking country tinged rock for the masses.
“We Know” continues the acoustic roots of the rock and their penchant for changing up the drums. It’s a bit more rockier in the choruses and there’s an excellent use of xylophone too. In fact using tuned percussion is something the duo do well as shown in “Be Careful”, the closing track. It’s certainly the slow track on the EP and the most folksy. What I find wonderful is that the final two minutes is a glorious outro that showcases the ability to write a melody that holds up entirely on its own merit. That’s a great sign of a great sound right there.
Copperfox will not overwhelm you with sound or abrasion. It’s all about the careful construction of the melodies already there. By taking their time and crafting each sound to get the most out of it, its clean, melancholic and emotive. A great opening shot.
