Estella
We were recently contacted by Chris from Estella, a band who describe their genre as rock and their home town as Wagga Wagga. Going on to say that they formed in early 2011, the band combine elements of rock, pop and jazz to create a diverse range of unique sounds – which sounds pretty cool to me. The guys were good enough to send us through a copy of Faceless, due out later this month, to see what we thought of their 10 track album!
Opening with Free Ride there’s an unexpected sound to get things going, a piano line firstly getting things going before the guitars and drums come in to bolster the sound up. Growing in power, the upbeat tempo of the track continues and builds this track into one which you could well imagine opening a show, almost acting as an introduction to the style of the band so you know what to expect. Conventionally mainstream vocals take the lead on the track, but I love the complexity to it, if you listen behind the words to what’s going on you realise that there’s a lot going on in the background – from rolling drums, heavy guitar lines and a solid bass backing – it’s a contrast within a contrast which makes this track really stand out as something new and special.
Unjust Pride seems to mark a change in the style of the album, this time opening with a straight up hard hitting guitar line to get things moving, showing off the bands more rock based roots. Fading out into a more chilled out and atmospheric style, the track seems to rove between hard hitting rock and early 2000’s style nu-metal style riffs – the mix once again forming a sound which will surprise and intrigue at every opportunity. The Faker comes up next and once again, marks a different style to the band. Opening with faded sound effects before once again using the piano to get things moving, this is another track which is going to make you sit back and wonder what’s going to come up next. What’s most striking about the tracks on this album is that the band aren’t afraid to do their own thing, aren’t afraid to produce a track which is more complex than straight forward, tracks which make you think rather than just accept what you’re hearing. Once again combining the piano line with a hammering riff to keep the rock elements flowing through things, we’re 3 tracks in and the band aren’t showing any signs of following convention or sticking to a copied recipe – this is unique stuff and it seems to be working.
All I Saw and Unforgivable seem to once again follow the style of combining different elements, but it’s when Fields Of Estella comes about that I feel the band achieve their full potential. Opening with a jazz style guitar line, the track seems to almost grow around you, little elements being incorporated as it progresses to keep you guessing, keep you wondering what’s going to come next but assuring you that whatever it is, it’s going to be damned good. The laid back jazz-rock combination adopts an almost Dream Theater feeling at times due to the unconventional progressions within the track, meaning once again we’re presented with a track which can’t be taken at face value or simply taken for granted, instead ensuring you think about it from start to finish. The Voices follows on and continues the atmospheric style of the tracks, sounding akin to The Count Of Tuscany at first but soon adopting a more laid back approach which allows you a moment to chill, a moment which will sooth everything away and leave you relaxed in the knowledge that you can simply let the music do the work for you. I love the ‘out there’ approach of this track, almost following a Pink Floyd style progression which will sound familiar at some times, but new and exciting at others.
Progressing through the acoustic openings of My Past through to the more upbeat moments of Inferno, the album soon reaches it’s conclusion with closing track Destruction of Society, closing as it began and leaving you unsure about what style you just heard, but knowing that it was pretty cool. The closing moments of this album do what they should, leave you wanting more and wondering what on the earth the band are going to do to follow an offering like this!
Estella are a band that I couldn’t even begin to pigeon hole into a genre as simply, they cross boundaries and offer up a sound which is a combination of different styles and approaches. I love that they’re not afraid to do their own thing as the result is a 10 track album which will keep you guessing, keep you thinking and keep you wondering as to how they’re going to continue this style for much longer! Personally, I know that this is an album I’ll be coming back to time and time again, well worth a listen.
To find out more about Estella, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Opening with Free Ride there’s an unexpected sound to get things going, a piano line firstly getting things going before the guitars and drums come in to bolster the sound up. Growing in power, the upbeat tempo of the track continues and builds this track into one which you could well imagine opening a show, almost acting as an introduction to the style of the band so you know what to expect. Conventionally mainstream vocals take the lead on the track, but I love the complexity to it, if you listen behind the words to what’s going on you realise that there’s a lot going on in the background – from rolling drums, heavy guitar lines and a solid bass backing – it’s a contrast within a contrast which makes this track really stand out as something new and special.
Unjust Pride seems to mark a change in the style of the album, this time opening with a straight up hard hitting guitar line to get things moving, showing off the bands more rock based roots. Fading out into a more chilled out and atmospheric style, the track seems to rove between hard hitting rock and early 2000’s style nu-metal style riffs – the mix once again forming a sound which will surprise and intrigue at every opportunity. The Faker comes up next and once again, marks a different style to the band. Opening with faded sound effects before once again using the piano to get things moving, this is another track which is going to make you sit back and wonder what’s going to come up next. What’s most striking about the tracks on this album is that the band aren’t afraid to do their own thing, aren’t afraid to produce a track which is more complex than straight forward, tracks which make you think rather than just accept what you’re hearing. Once again combining the piano line with a hammering riff to keep the rock elements flowing through things, we’re 3 tracks in and the band aren’t showing any signs of following convention or sticking to a copied recipe – this is unique stuff and it seems to be working.
All I Saw and Unforgivable seem to once again follow the style of combining different elements, but it’s when Fields Of Estella comes about that I feel the band achieve their full potential. Opening with a jazz style guitar line, the track seems to almost grow around you, little elements being incorporated as it progresses to keep you guessing, keep you wondering what’s going to come next but assuring you that whatever it is, it’s going to be damned good. The laid back jazz-rock combination adopts an almost Dream Theater feeling at times due to the unconventional progressions within the track, meaning once again we’re presented with a track which can’t be taken at face value or simply taken for granted, instead ensuring you think about it from start to finish. The Voices follows on and continues the atmospheric style of the tracks, sounding akin to The Count Of Tuscany at first but soon adopting a more laid back approach which allows you a moment to chill, a moment which will sooth everything away and leave you relaxed in the knowledge that you can simply let the music do the work for you. I love the ‘out there’ approach of this track, almost following a Pink Floyd style progression which will sound familiar at some times, but new and exciting at others.
Progressing through the acoustic openings of My Past through to the more upbeat moments of Inferno, the album soon reaches it’s conclusion with closing track Destruction of Society, closing as it began and leaving you unsure about what style you just heard, but knowing that it was pretty cool. The closing moments of this album do what they should, leave you wanting more and wondering what on the earth the band are going to do to follow an offering like this!
Estella are a band that I couldn’t even begin to pigeon hole into a genre as simply, they cross boundaries and offer up a sound which is a combination of different styles and approaches. I love that they’re not afraid to do their own thing as the result is a 10 track album which will keep you guessing, keep you thinking and keep you wondering as to how they’re going to continue this style for much longer! Personally, I know that this is an album I’ll be coming back to time and time again, well worth a listen.
To find out more about Estella, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls