'cene mixtape #37 - Kent Music Reviews - January/February 2025
Plus reviews from Wolfe Sunday, Shoelace, Faint Rings, Fuji Hideout, Hamilton Hound & Aphrah & pyxis
DOWN LOW - Wolfe Sunday
Acoustic punk outfit Wolfe Sunday, fronted by Eythorne’s Laurence Crowe, have released a fast-paced track that serves as a warning to the effects social media can have on your mental health. Opening with the sound of a mistuned radio, Crowe’s speedy guitar strums mix an indie band feel with the edgier, pointy lyrics of punk.
“I keep building walls, the walls are all pretend. Just to keep stuff out, but I just keep out my friends,” sings Crowe in a poignant ode to remembering what is real and what isn’t. Reminder.
THE GREATEST LIE - Shoelace
The Greatest Lie is the first single to be released by Ashford-based singer-songwriter Shoelace after signing with Margate’s Tonetic Records.
A cathartic ballad to heartbreak and self-delusion, the four-minute piano-led lament pulls together elements of 90s alternative rock with the melodrama of baroque rock as Shoelace experiments with the darker and more gothic side of his sound.
The track features beautifully lavish, bitterly dark arrangements of synths and choral voices, paired with the emotional urgency of blues guitar leads and Shoelace’s trilling falsetto, echoing the late Jeff Buckley.
“It’s kind of autobiographical... knowing things are maybe wrong but still going along with them anyway and trying and then coming to the same conclusions time after time,” describes Shoelace. Sincere.
LEMONADE - Faint Rings
Lemonade from Maidstone producer Faint Rings is a fun party tune that blends a late Noughties indie dance style with more modern, electronic production elements.
A pop sensibility will hook you in from the moment you hit Play with an infectious melody and bass line that packs a serious punch. The track itself is one that’ll both quench your thirst and leave you wanting more, offering a cool and refreshing taste on what current electronic music can be. Zesty.
BETTER OFF - Fuji Hideout
Canterbury’s Fuji Hideout has released a pop banger in Better Off. Heavily influenced by George Michael and other 80s pop icons, it actively looks to recreate old sounds and melodies but pushed through a modern filter.
Creating a retro-futuristic vibe across both sounds and the visuals, Fuji Hideout aka Marcus Bishop pairs synths with upbeat electro-drums to create an ethereal dreampop soundscape. It’s totally refreshing and feels like a proper flag-in-the sand moment for pop music. Is it back… or did it never really leave? Fun.
THE DISTANCE - Hamilton Hound & James Mason ft. Liz Arcane
“Just never forget when you’re struggling, that’s when you grow.”
In The Distance, Gravesend’s Ian ‘Hamilton Hound’ has created a track that falls somewhere between Baz Lurhmann’s famous Sunscreen and The Streets’ Mike Skinner. Honest reflections and thought-provoking lines weave themes of love, life and the struggles of balancing career and family. Directional urban poetry without being preachy, Hamilton captures the pressures of trying to hold it all together, while vocalist Liz Arcane binds the tune together with her melodic phrasing. Authentic.
SILHOUETTE - Aphrah & pyxis
Fresh from collaborating with the Grammy-nominated Crate Classics on track Waiting For You (GOLD), Aphrah’s promising solo career sparks off with the brand-new single Silhouette.
With the track, Aphrah heads into the alt-pop landscape, where her honest, heartfelt lyrics explore the melancholy of self-doubt but emerge with a new-found sense of empowerment. The production heightens those raw emotions as ethereal electronic elements and chiming piano melody unmask feelings that flow from vulnerable to powerfully determined.
Aphrah wrote the song with an all-female team, Jessica Sharman (Hannah Grace) and solo artist LANTA (Conor Maynard), with production courtesy of Rhiannon Mair (Laura Brehm).
“Exploring themes of body image, disordered eating and fitting into society’s standards of beauty, Silhouette is a song about breaking out of the shadows, taking the listener on a journey of discovering your worth,” says Aphra.
