Sometimes the songs we love can make us feel excited when we hear them coming up in a playlist or when we’re out and about doing our thing. ‘The Fear’ by Ben Howard, from 2011’s album Every Kingdom is such a song for me. During its 4 minutes and 20 seconds, it dynamically builds with such beautiful intensity that you can’t help but feel uplifted.

We begin with what sounds like some low level guitar drone and what I suspect is another electric guitar layer, which crescendos to sits under a slightly frenetic acoustic guitar playing the verse riff. Ben starts singing, he voice has a slightly husky quality. The first verse has some lovely imagery:

My, my cold hearted child
Tell me how you feel
Just a blade in the grass
A spoke unto the wheel

My, my cold hearted child
Tell me where it’s all gone
Oh the lustre of your bones
Those arms that held you strong

The verses that follow keep to the same pattern with the first two lines of each repeating. I like this technique as it makes everything feel cohesive. During the verse, the drums are used just as incidental fills, which gives your ear a little refresher, but hints as to what’s coming in the chorus. For me, this song illustrates what it is to hold something back and not feel like every space must be filled up with instruments.

This subject matter is interesting to contemplate. I don’t think anyone really likes acknowledging that they are afraid of things. We think that once we grow up and stare down our childish fears that we will be unaffected by such things. But it is natural to fear things like the unknown, as it may be the very instinct that preserves us. However, as some who has struggle to free myself from my mental fear prison, I hate the idea of letting fear stop me. I value freedom to choose and do what I want and fear is a definite buzzkill if you let it set the agenda.

The chorus hits with another drum fill, adding some more guitar (gorgeous!) and strings. The end of the chorus drops back slightly to the single guitar and drums under the line ‘That we all live our lives in the confines of fear’. This leads into a short instrumental with some atmospheric guitar and another drum fill, then we’re back in the verse riff with a bit of piano making an appearance.

The strings are back again along with some backing vocals on the line “Tell me where it all falls”. You can hear the intensity building, even though its subtle, it’s clear when we hit the chorus again. I am having trouble isolating what is so good about the drums in this song, the reverb or bass has been tweaked to give it this woody sound. In some places I think the kick drum has been put in the back and treated to some distortion or effects. The drums are quick and kind of sparse to me, but they cut through the mix and do the right amount of work to keep the song going.

The chorus brings in a tambourine which is the perfect addition, the chorus drops back again at the end and we’re in the bridge. After a few bars, the lyric “I’ll become what I deserve” repeats, with backing vocals adding more and more layers as the strings and the drums become even more intense. All of sudden, the music stops and the chorus starts again – the first lines solo before the most perfectly placed, perfectly sounding drum hit that I love so, so much brings the band back in. Before recording my album, I had a limited appreciation for what a good drum sound can do for a song. Now I can see examples of it everywhere.

The song winds down shortly after the last vocal line, the vocal melody slightly different with the return of the atmospheric sounds of the intro. If you’ve not heard this song, give it a listen, I hope it brings as much excitement to your ears as it does to mine.

The post #38 Ben Howard – The Fear appeared first on Blank Instrument.

I feel like Perth has always produced great bands. For the last 25 years that I’ve been going out to see live music, I have seen a lot of bands come and go. Ghost Care, formed in 2019, are a trio of musicians producing catchy indie rock that you can’t help but groove to.

‘Home Run’ is a song about domestic violence, the almost cheerful guitar in this song could fool you into thinking that everything is fine. I think it’s important to write songs like this about difficult subject matter, even if you’re worried you’re going to bring the mood down. In this case, the vibe is good.

We begin with an electric guitar riff, which feels like a breezy Perth summer’s day and after 2 bars the bass, drums and vocals (Beau Torrance) kick in.

He used to write your name
On the side of his arm sometimes
And you can barely look away
But when you did he was on your mind
Then he took you to a nice place
And showed you the good life
He said that he would love you

In the beginning of all relationships there’s a honeymoon period, a settling in where you learn about this person you fancy. The contrast of this first verse with the chorus shows how things can change when suddenly the person is not who you thought they were.

The chorus comes in, the drummer (Luke Del Fante) hitting the cymbals to provide a tonne of sizzle, while the backing vocals work well to accentuate the melody. The chorus seems to have 4 chords which are repeated in 2s, I love the simplicity of that. The rhyme of “home run” with “shotgun” is a particularly satisfying one with the imagery illustrating his violent nature.

The second verse is sung by a female vocalist (Tanaya Harper), which is a nice contrast that I honestly wish more people did that kind of thing, as it brings a different story telling aspect to a song. Its almost like the two of them are reaching out to a friend in intervention.

The chorus is extended with additional lyrics which show the contrast between who this guy used to be and how he acts now. A new instrumental section comes in with some well placed “Oohs” with everything except the electric guitar stepping back. The electric guitar plays a solo before the final extended chorus takes us out, with an unresolved chord to finish.

And there’s your 2:56 of awesomeness. If you’re in Perth, its easy to catch Ghost Care playing somewhere near you, and I recommend that you do, you wont be sorry.

The post #37 Ghost Care – Home Run appeared first on Blank Instrument.

The post #36 Emily Barker – The Quiet Ways appeared first on Blank Instrument.

It’s 1998. My final year in high school. The grunge era has begun and indie rock bands are emerging onto the Australian scene. Triple J is the radio station of choice and the song ‘Black Umbrella’ caught my attention. I guess the main reason is its Beatles inspired, guitar forward and melodic vocal which still floats my boat to this day. The production on this song feels so timeless, listening to it after 28 years, it doesn’t feel old and I love it jsut as much. And yes, it is incredibly scary to be writing 28 when considering how long ago my high school years were.

One of the things I love about writing this blog is that it brings me back to music, and I realise now that Even were still releasing albums until 2021. In fact the band is still together after forming in March 1994. Their career to date includes 8 studio albums and a tonne of touring both here in Australia and internationally.

‘Black Umbrella’ is from 1998’s Come Again album. I had this album and Free Kicks on CD back in the day. The song begins with guitar, followed closely by drums and bass and we have several bars to enjoy the riff before the vocal comes in.

I got my black umbrella
To shelter me from falling rain
But I forgot to tell her
She can join me and do the same

The song feels laid back which is much of its appeal. It’s not asking too much from you, so you’re happy to just go along with it. The guitar is panned to the left, until the B section, comes in where more guitar joins in on the right. I can’t really call it a chorus, because this song only has two sections which repeat, showing that you really do not need to obsess about your lyricism to create a good song. After years of writing about songs on this blog, I am still floored by how much simplicity works – even though, it’s one of my philosophies (just ask Todd). We also get some simple backing vocals and a well-placed cymbal hit brings us out of the B section back into A.

The intensity hasn’t really built up much and the song just trundles along until the second B section, where the guitars build up a bit and last line “I got more than love to cover you” flows into a drop down, the drums and bass leaving us for a short moment, while the echo of “To cover you” in Ashley Naylor’s smoky falsetto are followed by the drums building up to what turns out to be a big outro. The guitar intensifies, the bass walks around playfully and the vocal ad libs, with some gorgeous layered ‘Aaahs’ to take us to the final drop down of the song as it fades out.

Sometimes nostalgia can be a trap and universe knows that corporations use it to squeeze us for cash, but in this case, looking back at songs we love, is like unearthing a hidden treasure you thought you lost. Its still there, we just need to open our ears.

The post #35 Even – Black Umbrella appeared first on Blank Instrument.

Many of the songs on this blog are those which I’ve come back to time and again. ‘Angel Owl’ is a song I found in 2013 and it’s been on my Bittersweet playlist for years.

I’ve been drawn to bittersweet songs for a long time, but its hard to describe what bittersweet sounds like. In part, the playlist was an attempt to see what unifies these songs. But maybe its more of a vibe than a guitar tone, song structure or lyrical theme.

Angel Owl is from 2013’s Absolute Zero album. Little Green Cars are an Irish indie folk band who began writing songs together in 2008. By 2012 they were signed to the record label Glassnote and touring the US. By 2019 the band broke up, with the members going on to start a new band – Soda Blonde – or pursue a solo career.

‘Angel Owl’ starts with some gorgeously mixed guitars and the riff itself is my favourite feature of the song. The drums and bass come in for a stretch but drop back for the verse. The drums and bass are used as accents under the backing vocals in the verse which are a response to the main vocal line. The backing vocals in this song are amazing and for me are an example of how to use BVs as another instrument.

The verse lyrically fits in the folk genre, painting a picture in the abstract way that folk songs do:

On stormy nights, she waits outside
Her eyes so black, her feathers white
I kick the fire, put out the light
Burning embers cross the sky

Only at dawn
Does my angel sing

I love the dynamics in this song. Tension builds during the verse and by the end of the chorus, the post-chorus smacks you in the face with its gorgeously melodic riff and soaring backing vocals. The second verse keeps the pace up only to drop down during the chorus to allow the post-chorus to soar again. We then circle back to the intro again, with the addition of some sweet “oohs”. The outro is another intense post-chorus which finishes almost sedately on the final chord, which to me sounds like some kind of keyboard or pad rather than a guitar. Which makes me wonder what is buried under all those layers of guitar and vocals, padding out the song. There is mention of a piano and wurlitzer in the album credits?

I’m always amazed by musicians that can craft a song to take you on a journey, more through the musical decisions than the story of the lyrics. As beautiful and descriptive as the lyrics are, I feel like they are not really the point. The point is the music and the song delivers the emotion through its meldodic and harmonic choices.

It’s a song I could listen to again and again and who knows, maybe in another 13 years, I will still be listening.

The post #34 Little Green Cars – Angel Owl appeared first on Blank Instrument.

Gregory Alan Isakov is someone I’ve known about for a while, as I’d d heard his songs in indie folk playlists many times. I don’t think I became a fan until I heard songs from Appaloosa Bones, his 2023 album. ‘Sweet Heat Lightning’ is a beautifully sweet ballad and one of my favourites on the album.

The song fades in, starting with a guitar and some distorted piano, followed by the drums and bass for a few bars before dropping back before the verse starts. This drop-down is used throughout the song before the chorus and post-chorus. There have been a few songs I’ve reviewed on this blog with a drop-down at the end of the chorus. Given that ‘Sweet Heat Lightning’ has the same 4 chords throughout, you need something to differentiate the parts, and this does the job nicely.

In the first verse, the vocals feel subdued and unhurried, and I can hear multiple layers. The song is 4:46, but the lyrics are quite sparse, take the chorus for example:

Sweet heat lightning falls
Blue crack of light, and that’s all
Calling you to sing

Though only 3 lines, it’s packed with sensory language. Just look at the different senses drawn on here: sweet (taste), heat (touch), lightning (sight), blue (sight), crack (hearing), calling (hearing). Being abstract, you could interpret the words in different ways – a lightning storm where the rain doesn’t arrive, a flash of inspiration, a fleeting connection with someone.

In the post-chorus, the song intensifies with the line “Calling you to sing” repeated. This is a different melody to the verse and chorus, with the guitar, a banjo, piano and in the later song, violins all crescendoing in a beautiful dance. The music moves in and out like slow waves. The drums feel splashy in both the cymbals and the toms. All the instruments support the main hook, which is so beautiful.

The song finishes much as it started – vocal, guitar and a piano hidden underneath. Some people know the secret to finishing a song, so people will want to play it again after it’s finished. I think Gregory is one of those people. It’s comforting, sad, beautiful and haunting all at once. I do so hope he plays it in a few weeks when I go to see him.

The post #33 Gregory Alan Isakov – Sweet Heat Lightning appeared first on Blank Instrument.

For most of my life, I didn’t actively listen to instrumental music. I think part of me wondered what the point was when all the action was in the lyric, melody and vocal performance. I’m glad that changed for me, largely in part to Mr F, who does listen to instrumental music and introduced me to artists and styles I’d not heard before. I explored a few playlists when I needed some focus music, stumbling upon ‘Pacific Theme’ some years ago. Taken from 2002’s You Forgot It In People, it’s a nod to Broken Social Scene’s beginnings as an instrumental band. Their lineup has changed over time and resembles a Canadian supergroup with members from Metric, Feist, Stars, Do Make Say Think and others.

We begin with percussion, including bells and other synthetic drum sounds, and a cool electric piano. I struggle to pull out each element as there’s so much going on, and the various tones work so well together. A slow intro builds up to a snare fill before the guitar and drums enter. The guitar is a mainstay of the song, with the electric piano and drums rumbling along in the background.

The next section – the B section, if you will – brings in a flute melody that catches your ear for a bit. That is one of the key features of this song that I love: the combination of different instruments and textures, with nothing overstaying its welcome to keep the momentum going.

There’s a breakdown after the B section, where an acoustic guitar comes to the forefront. Next, a harmonica brings us back to the A section, layering up the guitar parts, which make the song feel expansive. I can hear the bass peeking through here, sounding warm. It’s funny how the bass has been there somewhere all along, but I can’t hear it distinctly until this moment.

The next section (C), changes up the main guitar riff and leads us to another breakdown, which is just drums and the beautiful electric piano. This makes way for a horn section, bringing back the percussion from the intro. There’s a distorted sample of people talking that sounds static-like, which is a nice backdrop.

The B section comes back in with the guitars and horns doing the heavy lifting. It feels like a beautiful ray of sunshine; there’s a tambourine, some more sonic interest with those distorted voices, before breaking down to drums.

When the drums fade away, the voices are all that’s left. This blends into the next song on the album, meant as a seamless transition.

I think this song has a timeless quality to it. It always feels welcoming and interesting, taking you on a journey and introducing you to different elements each time you hear it. Whenever this song comes on in my Instrumentical playlist (instrumental and classical music), it makes me happy and always feels fresh. I hope you find a way to incorporate this song into one of your playlists as I think it might make you happy too.

The post #32 Broken Social Scene – Pacific Theme appeared first on Blank Instrument.

Many of you would have heard about the various boycotts of Spotify in recent years. Some people left when Joe Rogan was paid an obscene amount of money to put his podcast on the platform. Others cite founder Daniel Ek’s affiliation with a military drone technology company. For me, it was probably a combination of these things, but mainly the feeling that listening to music in the app wasn’t enticing anymore. I was following over 500 artists, but was not informed when there was new music. The algorithm was lazy, serving me songs I’d already heard that week instead of choosing from the vast array of music in playlists on my account.

I did a little research and landed on Deezer. There are some questions about their ethics due to their ownership, but these are not as damning as Spotify. With Deezer, at least the app is focused on music. There are no podcasts or audiobooks touted on the front page, trying to stop you from engaging with your music library. While transferring my music library to Deezer, I went through my followed artists, accumulated over 15 years. I removed anyone I wasn’t interested in anymore or who wasn’t producing music. This reacquainted me with new albums from a range of artists, including Marble Sounds.

Marble Sounds is the project of Pieter Van Dessel, a Belgian songwriter and musician. ‘Nothing To Get Over’ is from 2025’s album Core Memory, his 6th album to date.

Immediately, we’re thrown into this ’80s soundscape, with synths, bass and drums. Van Dessel starts singing, with his unique tone and accent. The verse sets up the scene, the end of a relationship, feeling lost, sad and restless. There’s some optimism there, “Not sure where to go but I guess I will figure it out”, almost like this is a temporary state of affairs, rather than a life-defining state. This is reinforced in the chorus, and I really like how it’s not a typical heartbroken breakup song where someone can’t imagine how they’ll carry on.

I think the best way I can describe how this song makes me feel when I hear it and why I love it so much is ‘excited’. The verse and pre-chorus are upbeat, but the chorus feels epic. The drum fill oozes ’80s reverb, ushering in the chorus lyric and a gorgeous backing vocal answering the main line.

There is nothing to get over
There is nothing to get over
I can live my life the way it is
I admit you took a part of it
But nothing to get over

The acknowledgement that life is going on regardless is very relatable. There’s a hint of a tambourine in the chorus, along with an accent (I think a guitar) for the line “the way it is”. I feel like that accent is really distinctive and refreshes your ears before the title comes back. There’s quite a bit of space in the chorus, so it’s pleasing to the ear.

After the chorus, there’s more synth piano and guitar, which leads us back into the verse. Things change up after the chorus with the bridge, which keeps the upbeat and optimistic feel with the guitar playing some loose arpeggios with the lush synth layers. The drop-down chorus brings the synth to the foreground with a lack of drums.

The backing vocals sing us out with two overlapping lines, bringing the oohs back from the chorus. I love a good fade out, and this song does not disappoint.

I hope that if you’ve lost your way and aren’t listening to music much anymore, you can find your way back. You never know when you might find songs that you love.

The post #31 Marble Sounds – Nothing to Get Over appeared first on Blank Instrument.

Some songs are enduring. You can listen to them again and again, and they always make your heart soar and your ears glad. For me, ‘Song For Sundays’ from Luke Ritchie’s 2011 album The Waters Edge is such a song. Looking at its vintage, I think I probably found it when I was regularly listening to albums being reviewed by the For Folks Sake blog. At the time I was living in London, immersing myself in the plethora of amazing indie folk music being made in the early 2010s.

I think the reason why I still love this song, 14 years later, is for 3 main reasons:

1. The lyrics are beautiful and paint a picture of a Sunday morning and an emotional state summed up as “So calm yet so unclear”
2. The vocal performance at the end of the song is filled with intensity and it washes over me like the most beautiful wave
3. The piano is just so darn perfect in both its twinkling sound and its function

We start off slowly with a beautiful acoustic guitar, soon followed by a warm kick drum, before the bass (possibly double bass?) and drums come in proper. I think the word warm sums up the vibe. It sounds like time and care were put into recording these instruments. My own limited recording experience has taught me that how you record something is everything. Mixing and overdubs can only do so much, it can’t fix something that wasn’t right to start with. If you get a nice snare sound or the guitars are mic’d up just right, it makes a huge difference.

Luke’s vocal is clear and warm, with a slight rasp in places throughout the song which gives it character. Setting the scene of waking up on a Sunday morning, I am reminded of one of my own songs ‘Look’, much less poetic than this, where I remark on Sunday morning’s hazy light, with someone next to you.

Once we hit the chorus, the piano kicks in, adding a rhythmic quality with its complex flourishes. The piano continues through the second verse and chorus, where I think I can hear some strings making an appearance. I’m calling it a chorus loosely, as it is more of a refrain. The music in this section builds up to mark our exit from the verse and the melody becomes more legato.

I mentioned loving the imagery in the lyrics and this is illustrated in the second verse, where a moment of drinking water is turned into an adventure:

I wring the tap dry of water –
My little hill-side source –
And then I’ll down a flooded river
In knotted loops and folds
But then I’ll simply lie stranded
Like some bloated corpse
Until you rise me up

The song pulls back after the second chorus/refrain, similar to the first verse. You can also hear the brushes on the drums which is a lovely touch. By the end of the verse and into the refrain, the song becomes a runaway train. All the instruments ratchet up, with Luke belting out the lines, before the song takes a breath and everything winds down to the end. It never fails to give me goosebumps and I can only imagine how satisfying it was to sing.

While I can never realy know someone’s songwriting journey or the path of a song, I can’t help but think that this song wanted to be written, patiently waiting for the final minute where it could soar. As a music lover, these moments are the ones that inspire me to keep going.

While Mr Ritchie hasn’t released a solo album since The Waters Edge, a little searching turned up a career focused on music and technology, with many interesting jobs. More reason to appreciate this album.

The post #30 Luke Ritchie – Song for Sundays appeared first on Blank Instrument.

This month, we’re delving into ‘Can’t Stop The Rain’ from Neal Francis’s 2021 album In Plain Sight. I really love this song, as it has a timeless sound that is just as at home in 2025 as it was in 1975. Leaning into funk, soul, and rock, it’s chock-full of electric pianos, funky guitars, warm bass, and horns.

An interesting fact about the album – it was written and recorded almost entirely in a church where Neal was living at the time, after a relationship break-up. Having struggled with sobriety, he was in the process of owning up to his issues and trying to work on them, instead of feeling like he had to hide everything. I definitely resonate with that, as for a long time I’ve felt a lot of shame about my feelings and always thought I had to push them away. The underlying issue was that I didn’t know how to accept the feelings I didn’t want. I now know that leaning into them is the only way for them to dissipate.

This is another song that is not complicated in terms of chords, using only 4 chords throughout the entire song. To start, we get piano, accented by some kind of organ or electric piano. The beauty of the piano in this instance is taking two chords in the verse and creating a funky riff. A few bars in, and the slide guitar shows up. This is Derek Trucks, a well-known and incredible blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. The groove is good, and it feels uplifting. The drums don’t cut through a lot, which feels like it’s in keeping with the 70s vibe, and there’s definitely a tambourine in there.

The vocal in the verse feels quite laid back, but in the pre-chorus, the music drops back a bit, and you can hear the piano more clearly. When the chorus comes in, it’s with a punch.

And you can’t stop the rain
It’s always coming down
It’s always gonna fall
But you’re not gonna drown

Quite a simple lyric, making it quite a catchy chorus. The words “down” and “drown” are held, which gives your ear a chance to catch up on the words. Think about how much less impact it would have if they were cut short?

There are quite a few instrumental breaks in this song, before the second verse and after the second chorus. This allows the guitar to build up, and I can hear an acoustic guitar panned to the left. There are also some really nice moments where the piano comes through before the final chorus. It gets quite intense at the end – in a good way!

I can also hear some backing vocal lines buried in the mix. The backing vocals are more clear in the live version, which has horns and an 11-piece band. Neal seems to be enjoying himself so much – and his outfit is divine. That kind of band setup is the stuff of dreams.

My takeaways from this song are:

• Simple chord progression
• Good, solid piano riff
• Amazing players
• Space for the music to shine
• Catchy chorus

The post #29 Neal Francis – Can’t Stop The Rain appeared first on Blank Instrument.