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Review |
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StringerBessant is the latest side project from
Gary Stringer and Jack Bessant of Reef and Them
Is Me fame and this time around the duo have gone
right back to basics and come up with an fantastic
album called ‘Yard’ which features 12
stripped down acoustic tracks where Gary Stringer
and Jack Bessant share lead vocal duties.
‘Yard’ is due for release on the
12th July through Xtra Mile Recordings, the album
runs for just over 40minutes and it proves to
be a beautiful listen from start to finish and
so different from anything that Gary Stringer
and Jack Bessant have done before, just imagine
the most stripped down mellow sounding Reef song
and that would still be a few miles away from
how stripped down the songs featured on ‘Yard’
really are.
When I first put ‘Yard’ on I will
be honest I was not impressed at all but something
inside me wanted to give it a second chance so
I listened to it again and again and after about
the third listen I started to get what the album
was all about and also started to appreciate the
wonderful music that this fantastic duo had created
and now as I continue to listen to the album my
mind is forever changing on what my favourite
track is and that is quite rare I normally find
a track on an album that I love and that will
always remain my favourite track but there is
something special about ‘Yard’ and
the way that certain songs appeal to you more
than others depending on what your mood is like
at the time.
The album opens with the beautiful sounding ‘Hey
Girl’ the song is so laid back that it has
a slight eerie ghostly feel about it but at the
same time there is so much life within the song
as everything is so stripped back that it gives
Gary stringer the chance to shine with his unique
sounding vocals and the strumming of the acoustic
guitar really just adds to the whole atmosphere
of the song.
‘Self Is Here’ is another fantastic
song it has a slight folk feel about it especially
during the opening guitar peace and as the song
progresses it gets better and better especially
during the beautiful sounding chorus which features
vocals of “Oh I know, Oh I know myself is
here” and those vocals will remain in your
heard for weeks to come after a couple of listens,
the pace of the song picks up towards the end
as an Harmonica takes centre stage and is played
with perfection.
‘The Calling’ features Stringer singing
more like when he was in Reef, imagine the song
‘Consideration’ as the vocals are
emotional sounding and straight from the heart
just like they were in that song but once again
the fact that the song is so stripped down it
comes across more real.
‘Peeling Back’ vocally takes you on
a beautiful journey, ‘Give Me The Keys’
picks up the pace slightly and ‘Shutting
Down’ goes right down the depressing route
whilst still being extremely listenable.
My current favourite tracks on the album are
‘Wipe Those Tears’ and ‘Make
It’ both songs are emotionally charged but
both have quite a lot of get up and go and raises
the bar way above the other songs on the album,
take ‘Wipe Those Tears’ for example
the vocals are fantastic as Gary Bessant shows
off with the best vocal duties on the whole album,
the song is so easy to get into and I just dare
you not to sing-a-long you just won’t be
able to help yourself. ‘Make It’ features
Gary Stringer on lead vocals but features eerie
backing vocals from Bessant which sound perfect
coming in a second or so before Stringer during
the beautifully executed catchy chorus which oozes
in style.
As far as toned down acoustic music comes StringerBessant
are right at the top of the pack as they have
created an album that is full of rhythm and fantastic
vocals which express so much passion in so many
different ways , seriously I cannot stress enough
just how perfect ‘Yard’ really is.
5/5
Review by Trigger |
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| Band
Members |
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Gary Stringer
Jack Bessant |
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| Track
Listing |
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1. Hey Girl
2. Self Is Here
3. The Calling
4. Peeling Back
5. Wipe Those Tears
6. Give Me The Keys
7. Shutting Down
8. Wild Dog
9. Core
10. Make It
11. Song Worth Singing
12. Lord Please Come |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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