Sounds like…

If the Beach Boys did a new wave album.

The review

Blesson Roy popped onto my radar earlier this year with the excellent single ‘In Tune With The Moon’. The sound tucked into his love of new wave music – when pop music could be edgier and darker than usual. ‘Time Is A Crime’ is Blesson Roy’s first solo EP after several other musical projects in bands elsewhere. It is a self assured and confident debut.

The reason his sound clicks with me is that it has the vocal shimmer and joy of a band like the Beach Boys but all the twangy guitars and mild dissonance of mid 80’s new wave music. Each song falls somewhere on this scale. ‘Lost and Found’ is acoustic rock bliss and could be a holiday Beach Boy track. Then ‘In Tune With The Moon’ and the superb closer ‘Walk This Mile’ sit on the opposite end. The beauty is that Blesson Roy is so adaptable to both sides of the spectrum, you can enjoy whatever he is throwing at you. I naturally gravitate towards the muddier and more chaotic sounds but Blesson can make an acoustic rock jam along with the best of them.

What will be interesting is working out where he goes from here. This EP is a really solid base to start from and there is a wide spectrum of rock he can tackle. With an EP, you can offer a selection of sounds as a starter palette but where Blesson Roy stands out from the crowd is in his mixture of rock, new wave synths and smooth vocals. I hope he keeps the melting pot on full heat for his future releases.

Recommended track: In Tune With The Moon

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