aaamusic | On 28, Apr 2014

I was born in 1987, therefore I relived the musical glories of the 80s and 90s when they were technically already history. By the time I was fifteen I was breathing and living the Oasis and Blur sound; four years later my car was filled with the Arctic‘s music and lyrics. Relationships with bands are just like the ones we have with people: there’s love, expectations and disappointment. So when I’m presented with an artist paired with my glorious artists – it doesn’t matter if I came across more engaging bands over the years, I could never forget my first love(s) – my expectations grow ever so high. What do you think come next? Disappointment.

Rupert Stroud‘s new single ‘Morning Light‘, is a weak and pale piece, flat and boring. He has an amazing voice, husky and skilled in a way that he confidently plays with it, bending it to make it higher or lower, always rich and never dull. But you wouldn’t gather any of this if you limited your knowledge of him to his latest single. If you’re patient enough and cut him some slack – all the press going crazy about him can’t be entirely wrong, can it? Right? – then you could discover songs like ‘No Peace of Mind‘, ‘Twisted Games‘, and ‘Tears for Now‘, and would be presented with a rich variety of sounds and atmospheres. Stroud‘s voice is magical and mesmerising.

But as I said in another review, it doesn’t really matter how brilliant an artist is in the past if his current efforts don’t live up to the expectations.

★★★★★

Monica Guerrasio