Miccoli

‘Idle Stranger’

NOW BEING PLAYED ON VH-1

For over four years Birmingham band Miccoli made up of twin brothers, Adriano and Alessandro , along with their sister, Francesca , have toured the US and the UK honing a sound that has been compared to everyone from Snow Patrol to Coldplay .They have gigged in the Viper Rooms and every other key rock venue across America , written songs ,worked with legendary producers . They have hung out with Motley Crue,  written songs, had an altercation with Paris Hilton in a toilet. Written more songs,  been cautioned by the highway patrol, written songs and learnt a great deal about producing their own music. They have played the O2 Wireless festival, lived in their car with a mobile bar and cooker they built themselves, written and performed more songs, had one of the members of the band suffer a near fatal heart operation. They have turned down a gig for Kevin Costner, wrote and performed even more songs , moved to Penang and landed a sponsorship deal , shot their debut video , written more songs , performed more gigs and that is just the half of it.

They look almost too good to be true and it is important to underline this as in itself given what they have been through on the road to still be in any shape at all is a victory and given that their tales of what has happened on the road is more akin to a thrash metal band it is clear fate has smiled on them in many ways. They sound like they have been having hits for the last five years, the vocals of Adriano and Alessandro who swap lead duties are threaded together by the hypnotic beauty of Francesca’s whose voice is the backdrop to the tight sound they create. Yet the beauty of their music also highlights an intensity and a feeling that they have indeed paid their debt to rock n roll in the most extreme ways.

Although gigging , recording and writing have been their life for the past few years , the  focus is firmly now on releasing their music. This in no small part , as referred to earlier, is due to  the band nearly not being here at all  if Alessandro’s  heart condition , in which his heart rate escalated to 250bpm , he underwent  emergency surgery, then had to have four further heart operations, had proved the end rather than the beginning for Miccoli.

This traumatic period gave the band time to regroup, get serious, rethink and put their adventures and life experiences into context finding solace  in the studio , re-defining their writing and taking their music to another level,  all their experiences and emotion being combined into a musical cocktail that is   Miccoli’s  sound of today.

Seeing In The Dark is the new single by Mothlite aka Daniel O’Sullivan, it’s the second single to be lifted from the acclaimed second album Dark Age, which was released earlier on in the year and has already received plaudits from the likes of the NME and The Quietus who declared the album to be one of the top fifty albums of the year to date. The album is a mixed affair taking in numerous influences from the dark shadows and intensity of industrial rock to glitchy electronica via bubbling synth pop, transcending genres to create a unique and intoxicating sound that stands alone.

Seeing In The Dark is an intriguing choice of single, it’s one of the more restrained numbers on the album, that see’s Daniel combine dreamy vocals with bubbling synths and an almost pop like sensibility, to create a soft almost lulling affair, it’s a subtle yet a seductive number that warms it way into your subconscious, enticing repeat spins and urging the listener into the evocative and captivating world of Mothlite.

The single once again proves that Mothlite don’t deal in instant yet unfulfilled satisfaction, the band would rather take you on a compelling, sensory ride that slowly beguiles, leaving you longing for further immersions into their intoxicating world.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 10

www.mothlite.co.uk

Beautiful is the second single from singer-songwriter Micheal Emmerson following on from the succesful debut, Back To You, a single that was co-written by Being Human star Andrew Gower and picked out by Chris Martin, Radio DJ Mark Radcliffe and producer Steve Levine at the Make It Break It awards.

Micheal uses life experiences as inspiration for his songs and welds that form of expression with a love for music such as Coldplay, Bon Iver, Damien Rice and Sigur Ros to create passionate and evocative songs brimming with emotion.

Beautiful is one such song, it’s a lovely, spine tingling ballad complete with subtle yet intoxicating instrumentation, opening with a stripped back acoustic and Micheal’s stunning croon before eventually developing into a widescreen, mulit layered, harmony enriched tender epic complete with delicate piano peppering.

Beautiful is one of those aptly named tracks that simply oozes sophistication and class, you can already envisage that lighters in the air, entangled couples moment each and every time Micheal performs this one live and rightly so, a mesmeric single by one of one of the hottest new names on the singer-songwriter scene.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 9

www.michealemmerson.com

Jessica Alice is already being touted as the next big pop sensation if her accompanying bumf is to be believed, she developed a love for music at a young age thanks to her older brother’s love of dance music and accompanying her pro musician, mother to gigs with her rock band. From the age of 8 she began to play clarinet and from there she’s also now plays guitar and keyboards, but her voice has always been her main instrument, from 13 she toured with Choirwood.

Jessica’s debut single L.O.V.E was co-written by herself and produced by renowned Belgian dance producer, Patz, the track showcases that early dance influence as Alice delivers a Euro-dance flavoured tune that wouldn’t sound too out of place on the playlist of your local club. It’s a cheesy beat friendly number topped by Jessica’s powerful lead if not repetitive lead vocal.

I suppose if you have a kinship for yesteryear’s house movement or throwaway Euro-pop you might get something of a kick out of L.O.V.E, but to be honest there’s nothing here to really help Jessica standout, the song is nothing more that a.n.other derivative dance track with an OK pop hook. Personally I think Alice should allow a few more of her past influences seep into her sound to in a bid to create something a little more unique (as well as composing the odd b-side, three mixes of an average single isn’t going to help sell her wares!!!).

Rhythm & Booze Rating 5

www.jessicaalice.com