by Mayfield
Mayfield Victim of Circumstance (PBS Feature Record)
Melbourne’s very own six-piece soul outfit, Mayfield, bring us their long awaited 12 track debut album Victim of Circumstance after the successful release of their 45" single On the Ropes on Choi Records. The album was engineered, produced & mastered by Mayfield’s own drummer Ivan ‘Choi’ Khatchoyan (Cooking on 3 Burners & The Traffic).
Mayfield fuse together soulful beats, smooth melodies and powerhouse vocals that give this classic sound a modern urban twist. Add in a pinch of R&B and a teaspoon of funk, and you’ve got one delicious combination of sonic flavours.
The band has carved themselves a strong live reputation as being a staple in the thriving Melbourne soul scene from their high level of musicianship and their ability to get people on the dance floor. The band is fronted by vocal powerhouse, Carla Troiano, who was also a featured vocalist on Melbourne’s ‘Women Of Soul’ that was a collaboration with other female artists such as Kylie Auldist and Chelsea Wilson.
Victim of Circumstance is a collection of songs that were written at different stages of the bands creation and by different writers. The tunes run together as an album should; shifting, pulling, belting, powering, and sometimes delicately delivered.
Sheer Mag Need to Feel Your Love (featured on The Breakfast Spread)
Sheer Mag have always done things on their own terms. On paper, a lo-fi punk take on classic rock sounds like a terrible idea - something cooked up at a party for a laugh - but there's no piss-take in the Sheer Mag recipe. Rather an honest and open love of music that makes you feel good and powerful. As smitten musically with early Jackson 5 and Thin Lizzy as they are politically with feminist theory and tearaways from the Discord family.
Need to Feel Your Love - their first LP - comes after an unlikely and captivating run of three 7" EPs. This record pushes their sound in a slightly more polished direction - adding punch and fire to the songs - without detracting from the DIY ethic in the band's beating heart. A little more taken with 70s hard rock and proto punk than the 60s soul and mo-town influences of their early releases. Tina Halliday's voice is as powerful as ever - capable of both razor sharp high notes and broody growls. Kyle Seely continues to pump out killer riffs and lead breaks. The whole thing radiates sunlight and feels incredibly empowering.
Packed with feel good anthems and progressive politics Need to Feel Your Love is a total triumph of melding disparate influences.
Review by Nick Brown (The Breakfast Spread)
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