Tear in the Radio #2 - The Stolen Volume 2 | Page 20

TRUST CYCLES | MOONZZ
This new EP stands on its own as a musical statement from an
electro-pop artist whom I expect we’ll be hearing a lot more
about. Her use of vocal manipulation, reminds me of Air more
than anything, as do the occasional guitars and unexpected textures that interrupt the EP’s dominant silky synthesizer tones.
If there’s a flaw here, it’s that the recording is maybe too silky,
and Ms. Williams’ admittedly lovely vocals so effortless that the
“raw emotion” her bio promises is not particularly in evidence.
STATE I’M IN | BRANDYN BURNETTE
I wasn’t expecting to like this guy as much as I do. First impression, I had a very much “Oh, another Aaron Carter” vibe
going on. In any case, Mr. Burnette turns out to be not so
much a Backstreet Boy as a spiritual heir to Jeff Buckley. His
voice is delicate and highly trained, yet comes off as earnest
rather than slick. His music is an interesting fusion of disparate styles including soul, hip-hop, and even elements of indie
rock. And when he croons the title line of “Worship,” a song
that is fundamentally about the same thing as every other
R&B song, it somehow feels like it’s saying something new.
THE HUMAN CONDITION | JON BELLION
If you’d asked me yesterday if anyone was fusing alternative
hip-hop with pop and R&B these days, I’d have said no. If
you’d asked me if I thought that sounded like a good idea...
likewise, no. But Mr. Bellion and his team have given us some
remarkable musical moments out of just such a fusion. The
beats are big and booming and surprisingly tricky. Odd vocal
effects and a diverse palette of instrumental sounds keep the
production consistently interesting and entertaining at best.