Recent Releases: Distant Blue, Those Without and More!
Welcome/welcome back to the blog! Apologies, I’ve been gone for a couple of weeks; life has been pure and utter chaos. However, I thought since I haven’t been around as much the past few weeks, that I would drop a new Recent Releases post. Today we will be featuring Downcast, Beam Noir, AIRTIGHT, Distant Blue, and Those Without.
We’ve never featured Beam Noir (which one of my lovely pals who also did some guest posts on here previously, Tanya, asked me if I’d want to review), nor AIRTIGHT (Aaron, who used to be in Feel Something, fronts AIRTIGHT, and he also reached out to me regarding the debut single). However, the other lovely acts are no stranger to the blog. So, let’s kick this post off by talking about AIRTIGHT!
AIRTIGHT dropped their debut single a few weeks ago (May 24th). The track is titled Habit. Habit packs a hell of a punch, and makes a wonderful first impression, to what we can hope is many more tracks to come. There’s a nice mix of clean and rough vocals on the track, and it’s a track that sounds a lot heavier than it is due to elements such as the drums on the track. I didn’t know what to expect with this track, I liked Feel Something, so I knew to an extent I would probably like AIRTIGHT, and I was right. I absolutely love Habit. It somewhat reminds me of the likes of Linkin Park and maybe even Nirvana, just with the sort of grunge vibes the track features. It has a similar sort of vibe to The Blams, but just with a twist, and as much as I like The Blams, I love AIRTIGHT more than just going off this track alone. It’s a solid track, maybe not something I’m going to listen to for hours every day, but something I’m definitely going to have on heavy rotation. It reminds me a little of The Offspring, too, so essentially, those big, cult classic bands that really reinvented alternative music; if you like them, with that little bit of spice and pizzazz, then go and give this track a spin, because I think it’s a great track. It makes a statement, and it’s a bold debut single. I 100% would recommend you give AIRTIGHT some love on their debut single, Habit.
I keep toying between giving this track 4 or 5 lemons. To me, it is just shy of a 5 out of 5 but better than a 4 out of 5, so I think the only rating I could give it is 4.5 lemons out of 5. I really enjoy this track, and I’m excited to see what comes next.
Where to Find AIRTIGHT:
Spotify
Instagram
Facebook
Apple Music
Now, let’s talk about our second newcomer to the blog, before we talk about some tried and tested bands, ones that we already have expectations for, Beam Noir, as mentioned previously, were sent to me by my friend Tanya. BEAM NOIR’s latest single comes in the form of Hellraiser, and I had no idea what to expect from this track. I just knew I’d probably somewhat enjoy the track if Tanya was the one recommending it to me, as we have similar music tastes and have gone to a couple of gigs together. This track, to me, is alt rock, with some rough vocals thrown in, but the rough vocals don’t occupy a lot of the just over 3 minute, listening time, and they just a bit more dimension to the track. In a way, it reminds me almost of Bring Me The Horizon when they were in the That’s the Spirit era. That softer alt-rock sound with those elements adds that extra dimension to the track. I really like Hellraiser, and I think it’s a rather catchy track that will end up stuck in your head. I’m glad Tanya reached out to me about this track because, just off first impressions, the track leaves me wanting more. I want to hear more of this track and new tracks and listen to their discography. I would recommend you show this lot some love and give Hellraiser some love if you haven’t heard it already.
I’m confident in giving Hellraiser a solid 4 out of 5 lemons. This is another track that I was torn between a 4 and a 5, but I feel more confident with the 5, as whilst I adore this track and will have it on repeat, it’s just missing that little extra something to really win me over, and blow my mind in the way some tracks do.
Where to Find BEAM NOIR:
Spotify
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter (Now X)
Apple Music
Now, let’s get into our regulars. The bands we’ve tried and tested are the ones we’d expect me to feature when a new release drops. The first of these bands that we will talk about is our friends from the south of the UK, and that’s downcast. We’ve all heard Downcast by now, and if you haven’t, how have you not heard Catharsis? Anyway, the lovely lads are back with a new era and EP on the way. At the time of posting, they have just released another new track, which I will feature (hopefully) next week. But, since this is a recent release, to catch up with music, we will focus on bittersweet.
If there’s one thing we can count on, it’s a good pop-punk tune from downcast, they very much remind me of Moose Blood, with the sort of vibe they emit in their music, and I absolutely love downcast, and they never disappoint me with any track they put out. Every track is a certified banger, and constantly leaves me excited for the next track. It’s that classic sound we know and expect from downcast, and a lot of pop-punk bands. It’s pop-punk with the emo undertones. And I love it, it’s just got a good vibe to it. If you’ve never heard downcast before, then imagine Moose Blood and Neck Deep has a child together, downcast would be that child. They’re genuinely such a great band, and this is a track that I know is going to be in heavy rotation for a while. I genuinely love it, such a killer track, and one that leaves me wanting more, so I’m super stoked that I’ll be featuring them again shortly. There’s some subtle little tempo changes, and we all know, if there’s a tempo change in a track, then I’m in. I’m won over, I am a sucker for a tempo change, so some nice little subtle ones on bittersweet is enough to win me over.
I genuinely cannot recommend this track enough. This is such a killer track, and one that has me hyped for music again. That’s why I’m more than confident to give this track a solid 5 out of 5 lemons. It’s the tempo changes that win me over, it’s just that little extra spice that I need to win me over.
Where To Find Downcast:
Spotify
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Apple Music
Next up, let’s talk about our pals in Those Without, before we finish off in the city I call home with the last release. We’ve spoke about Those Without a few times before, and we should all know by now, that Those Without are an immense band that absolutely kill it with every track they release. I’m proud of the following they’ve gained, but I still believe it should be much larger. The track we’re going to be featuring is Serenity, rather than the track with Dream Drop.
Serenity gives off the best vibes, I’m talking Bittersweet vibes, and that is still one of my favourite albums to ever be released. Without a doubt in my top 20 (Possibly lower, but I don’t even want to attempt to think of all the albums I adore), and Serenity is giving the same vibe, the same sound, and I’m here for it. I’m genuinely in love with this track, it’s just so immense. Got a great feel and vibe to it. It has that classic pop-punk sound, and it has a nice refined sound to it as well. A very similar vibe to that of Protect Your Heart, Neck Deep, State Champs and the likes of. It’s a great track, and one that I really do enjoy. I’ve had this track on repeat a fair bit since release, so I can safely say this track is already in heavy rotation. I just love it, there’s not one element, one second, or anything about this track that I would change. Every element of this track works in harmony with the others. It’s a surreal track and one that I genuinely, do adore. I can’t get enough of this track, and I date say if you give it a listen a couple of times, you’ll have it stuck in your head for a while. It’s quite an addictive track to listen to, and one that you use automatically want on repeat.
That’s why I’m confident in giving Serenity a solid 5 out of 5 lemons. Seriously, if you haven’t heard this masterpiece already, please go and change that. This is such a surreal track and one that really does pack a punch.
Where To Find Those Without;
Spotify
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Apple Music
Lastly, let’s talk about our Notts pals in Distant Blue. If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’re probably no stranger to who Distant Blue are. I’ve featured them a lot, and I do hype them up a fair bit. But, that’s because I genuinely love the music they put out. They will always be one of my favourite Notts bands, and that’s because of just how insanely talented those 4 are! Distant Blue have made their return after what feels like an eternity, with their latest single Fallout.
Fallout appears to be making waves, with the lads having grown their monthly listening on Spotify substantially upon release of this track. The track has had more streams on Spotify than the likes of CHESHIRE SMILE and DEAD, amongst other tracks. So, evidently they’re doing something right with this track. And I have to admit, I’m here for it. It’s a killer track, one that really does pack a punch, and one that I genuinely am here for it. It reminds me a bit of Yungblud, It’s got quite a grungy undertone to the track, but Ed’s vocals are complimentary to that, but the vocals are quite fast, not fast enough to be compared to rap, but definitely faster than some of the other tracks we’ve heard from Distant Blue.
I genuinely really do love this track, and if the original version of this track isn’t to your fancy, then guess what? There’s a sped up version as well, which I’m also here for. If you’re an OG round here, then you might know that I used to previously judge if a track was top notch by how it sounded when I increased the speed of the track, if I put it on 1.5x and it still sounded epic then it was a solid track, but if it failed that track, it wasn’t meeting my expectations. But, this track is already proving to me that it’s epic. There’s some vibes in the track/tracks that do strongly remind me of Yungblud and even Bring Me The Horizon, there isn’t really any rough vocals, some small screams, but nothing that I would constitute as rough vocals. However, I’m still here for it. I do really dig this track and I would strongly recommend you go and check this track out. It’s got those punk elements (steering away more from the pop-punk sound that once used to be at the forefront of the band), mixed with some grunge, emo and rock, maybe even some more metal core elements in the sound of the track.
Overall, it’s a solid track and I’m happy to hear new Distant Blue music again, and I’m confident in giving this track a solid 5 out of 5 lemons. It’s not my favourite DB track ever, but it’s decent, and I prefer it over some of the others, and I’m firm believer in the idea that Distant Blue are one of the bands that I don’t believe ever put out a bad track. Please go check this track out, (and the rest of Distant Blue’s discography) and show the lads some much deserved love.
Where To Find Distant Blue:
Spotify
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Apple Music
Where To Find Me:
Here on LifeIsALemon Monday (and sometimes throughout the week too), at 7pm (UK Time)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Small Band Appreciation Playlist (Spotify)
For all blog related enquires contact me at myvoicebrandnew@gmail.com
