This week’s pop hides sharp minds behind bright surfaces. Warm, melodic and easy on the ear, but with real wit and feeling working away underneath. These are songs that go down smooth and then quietly give you something to think about.
Ferdinand Rennie – You Wrote Hallelujah
“You Wrote Hallelujah” is a brilliant, thoughtful pop song from Ferdinand Rennie, a rare single that brilliantly captures songwriting itself as its subject.
This is a song about songs. Rather than another love lyric, “You Wrote Hallelujah” turns its attention to where writers draw their material, weaving together the stories behind two famous works and the guilt and faith tangled up in them. Built on a strong vocal and an arrangement that gives the words room to breathe, it ends up in a wonderful, emotional track. It turns out as reflective without ever turning dry, and if you like a great track with a big vocal, this is definitely your track.
Ferdinand Rennie is an Austrian-born singer based on the west coast of Scotland, with a career spanning three decades. He has appeared on Austrian and German television, taken leading roles in musicals including Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar, sung in Monte Carlo before Prince Albert and Princess Charlene, and performed on Britain’s Got Talent in 2022. An impressive musical CV, but it’s this single which is the genuine standout. Check it out below, you won’t regret it.
Stefan B. Pieksma – Rationalize This
Stefan B. Pieksma serves up a gorgeous piece of 60s-scented psychedelic pop with a wickedly sharp mind underneath.
This is a song that grins while it skewers you. A warm analogue soundscape does the heavy lifting, harpsichord, a bouncy bassline, lush vocal harmonies and spinning tape loops all conjuring the golden age of psychedelic pop. The melody is very infectious, but the lyrics turn a cold eye on human self-deception. Those mental gymnastics people perform to justify questionable decisions, from petty workplace delusions to outright moral cop-outs. I love the concept, and the contrast between the message and the sweet sound really works.
Stefan B. Pieksma records from the subarctic town of Boden in northern Sweden under the genre-defying art project Pieces of Pix. His background is anything but typical: a Swedish Armed Forces officer and former Balkan peacekeeper in the early 1990s, he channels decades of observing global conflict and human nature into biting satirical songwriting. Not your typical route into making bangers, but whatever works, and they feel sharpened by that worldly perspective. A compelling single.
Sef Fah – Escondida Do Sol
“Escondida Do Sol” is a stunning Portuguese-language reverie from Sef Fah, a warm, unhurried tribute to seventies Brazilian song at its most tender.
Sef Fah’s new single is a song built for slow evenings. Sung in Portuguese, it draws directly on the spirit of seventies Brazilian music. I love the warm, gentle vibes, and it’s very easy to groove along to. But there’s a bittersweet idea at its heart, that love is the sun, and with it the loss and darkness that follow when the light goes. It’s a lovely concept, and the mood honours it beautifully without ever turning heavy. Lounge-soft and quietly romantic, it feels like a track made to drift out of an open window at dusk.
Sef Fah is a London-based songwriter whose whole project is a stand against the homogenisation of music, writing across multiple languages and drawing on cultures spanning Europe, Asia and the Arabic world. Its great to hear that ambition in the music, and interesting that “Escondida Do Sol” began life as a French composition before becoming this Portuguese release. A songwriter who dreams openly of one day working with Seu Jorge, Sef Fah treats linguistic diversity as central to the work rather than a novelty. It’s a fantastic, smooth single and you should definitely check it out below.
Kelesha Martin – Fly My Way
Kelesha Martin’s new single “Fly My Way” is lovely dose of cinematic orchestral pop that soars sky high
This is pop with a composer’s hand behind it. Melodic violin, background vocals and a flute kept delicately below the lead build slowly toward a powerful outro. There’s skill in the arrangement here, and I love hte kind of timeless pop quality to this which almost has a soundtrack-ready quality. The standout is definitely Martin’s vocal; gently floating upon the musical foundation, and swelling with a patient, uplifting momentum that earns its emotional payoff by the time it lifts off.
Kelesha Martin is a musician and songwriter from Galt, California, with a Minor in Music and years of experience as a classroom teacher, music educator and choir director. She grew up in Oakland studying flute under renowned flutist Elena Duran, and “Fly My Way” began twenty years ago as a song called Butterfly. It was recorded at Studio 132 in Oakland with arranger Peter Xiong, violinist Darcy Lynn Ford and producer B.Z. Lewis, closing a two-decade creative loop back in the city where she first learned her instrument. An impressive story, but the best thing here is the song itself, it’s genuinely beautiful and we’re excited to hear more this year.
Deptford Sound Collective – Broke
Broke” is a brilliant modern protest song from Deptford Sound Collective, channelling 1960s solidarity into an urgent, big-hearted anthem for the overworked.
This is pop with a picket sign in its hand. The track speaks directly to the millions working two or three jobs and still struggling to get by. I know the feeling lads, and this one skillfully turns that plight into a rallying cry rather than a lament. Musically it reaches for the spirit of 60s protest songs, a bold statement of love over hate that really lands. There’s a whole bounce to the whole thing though, keeping things anthemic and communal so the message lands as hope rather than despair. An important message, and musically it really lands.
Deptford Sound Collective are a London group made up of diverse musicians, artists and community activists from Deptford in South East London. The string of singles we’ve heard from them this year has been impressive, and only seems to be gathering momentum. It’s music rooted in solidarity, championing those facing challenges to their civil liberties and building songs designed to gather the crowd. We need more music in this ilk these days. Let’s hope Deptford Sound Collective keep this run of form going into the second half of the year, because this one’s great.