Taking some time out, so a couple of quick reviews to tide you over until later.
Ask Carol (Norway) – Wind in my hair (single)
Ask Carol have been doing a lot of travelling around the US this year and they seem to be quite at home there.
As I write this they’ve pitched up in Asheville, North Carolina, a pretty bohemian, trendy sort of place I believe, where the first The Hunger Games was filmed, Roberta Flack was born and Angel Olsen now lives. Nice place to spend a Saturday evening.
Except for the weather, that is. Hurricane Helene blew in, the town is flooded, and as I write this they’ve just posted on social media that they don’t know whether or not tonight’s show will go on.
Ironic isn’t it that Ask Carol has just released their latest single, and that it’s called ‘Wind in my hair’.
It’s a couple of years now since I reviewed their debut album and I’ve lost track of them in the meantime, what with all this travellin’ n’ all. What I do remember is that they rock like it’s going out of fashion.
But not this time, it’s a gentle (for them) rock ballad, which increases in intensity as it goes, as if the wind was powering it, and in which what stands out isn’t so much Carol’s guitar playing (apart from some overwhelming reverb and assorted effects at times – she’s got a set of pedals that look like they came from NASA) but the slick production that emphasises a sensual, alluring vocal over a spectral synthesiser background and select percussive effects from Ask rather than ‘drumming’.
It isn’t what I was expecting but it was far more than a pleasant surprise and definitely deserves to be experienced live.
Er, in Europe, please.
The Dog Days are over…but Ask Carol’s mammoth US tour continues until December.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/askcarol
X/Twitter: https://x.com/AskCarolMusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askcarolmusic/
Millie (Denmark) – Like This (single)
Over the last few days we’ve had break up songs in which the relationship couldn’t be saved despite the efforts of one half of the partnership; and a tasty piece of synth-pop.
Now Millie have managed to weld the two together with ‘Like this’, which they bill as “an emotional journey through heartbreak and uncertainty in the world of love.”
You might say that such songs are ten-a-penny and always have been but Millie have concocted a different spin on theirs. Not so much in the storyline but in the way they blindside you by attaching a happy melody line which could accompany a song about winning the lottery rather than the end of a relationship.
When they were last here, in January when their single, ‘Selfish’, was released, they advised that it was inspired by country music and I detect some of the same in ‘Like this’. They’ve managed to find a blend of pure pop, dance tunes and Americanathat works well with Emilie’s voice and results in a total production value which could easily fool you into thinking it is the work of some rising American starlet, and a top studio.
Find them on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/millie.wav
