Skin For A Canvas - NEW STUFF!
We featured the music of Skin For A Canvas a while back, so when Ian got in touch about his latest album, I was certainly intruiged as to what he’d been up to. The result of his hard work and dedication to his cause is the album Here I Stand Alone, 12 tracks which are out there, ready to be seen, and a demonstration of Ians hard work. I figured the best way to check things out was to hit play on the samples he sent me to see what was going on.
The Intro track which gets things going doesn’t give a lot away, initially opening with an answer phone message from a studio before leading us into Holding Back. Holding Back seems to be a return to the acoustic stylings which stood Skin For A Canvas out before, offering up an emotionally laden track full of hooks and soaring vocal lines. Like Rising Tides continues this approach, offering up a new found depth and power to the approach which continues the emotional feeling but shows that there’s more to the music than meets the eye, the sort of thing which is going to stand this album in good stead to do damned well once people pick up on it.
Talking To Ian continues the acoustic stylings, this time sounding like a catchier number, and the sort of track which will get people singing along and joining in throughout. It’s hard without hearing the full track, but there’s a real sense of emotional power to this track from the sounds of it, the sort of thing which reflects the personal feelings of Ian as the writer, and the sort of track which a lot of people will connect with. Steve The Cupcake Hunter (great name there…) adds a more humourous approach to things telling the story of Steve the cupcake hunter who hates motherfucking cupcakes, and has five daughters – a strange story for sure – but a track which I imagine goes down exceptionally well on the live scene. Moving onto a piano cover of Hello My Missing Pieces, we’re once again shown the emotional side of Ian, this time accompanying it with some lead electric lines which full hammer out the track, turning it into something quite special, and a track I want to hear for sure.
The first of two tracks to feature Dani Burnett comes up next in the form of Stay, a track we reviewed when Dani sent it through to us, and one which I’ve returned to several times as it’s one which you can’t help but fall in love with. Lullaby returns us to the Skin For A Canvas stuff, once again slowing things to an emotional level and combining the soaring vocals with more of those melodic guitar lines – the whole mix seeming to form into something which is going to work both on the record, and on the live scene. The same sort of feeling seems to come around with Winter Warm Spring, the sound bite simply showing off some acoustic guitar work and showing that sometimes, music can do all of the talking that’s needed when it comes to a sample track.
Closing the selection with Reflections and Blame Me (the second track to feature Dani Burnett) there’s no real twist in the tail or massive surprise, just more soft and emotionally charged acoustic style music, designed for a sunny day or a reflective moment or two.
It’s hard to judge an album based on samples, but from the sounds of it this is an album which is going to stand Skin For A Canvas in good stead moving forwards. Throughout the samples I found myself calm and reflective, simply allowing the music to do the work for me and showing that when it comes to music, sometimes simple is better. Definitely an album and an artist I’ll be looking to keep an eye out.
To find out more about Skin For A Canvas, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
The Intro track which gets things going doesn’t give a lot away, initially opening with an answer phone message from a studio before leading us into Holding Back. Holding Back seems to be a return to the acoustic stylings which stood Skin For A Canvas out before, offering up an emotionally laden track full of hooks and soaring vocal lines. Like Rising Tides continues this approach, offering up a new found depth and power to the approach which continues the emotional feeling but shows that there’s more to the music than meets the eye, the sort of thing which is going to stand this album in good stead to do damned well once people pick up on it.
Talking To Ian continues the acoustic stylings, this time sounding like a catchier number, and the sort of track which will get people singing along and joining in throughout. It’s hard without hearing the full track, but there’s a real sense of emotional power to this track from the sounds of it, the sort of thing which reflects the personal feelings of Ian as the writer, and the sort of track which a lot of people will connect with. Steve The Cupcake Hunter (great name there…) adds a more humourous approach to things telling the story of Steve the cupcake hunter who hates motherfucking cupcakes, and has five daughters – a strange story for sure – but a track which I imagine goes down exceptionally well on the live scene. Moving onto a piano cover of Hello My Missing Pieces, we’re once again shown the emotional side of Ian, this time accompanying it with some lead electric lines which full hammer out the track, turning it into something quite special, and a track I want to hear for sure.
The first of two tracks to feature Dani Burnett comes up next in the form of Stay, a track we reviewed when Dani sent it through to us, and one which I’ve returned to several times as it’s one which you can’t help but fall in love with. Lullaby returns us to the Skin For A Canvas stuff, once again slowing things to an emotional level and combining the soaring vocals with more of those melodic guitar lines – the whole mix seeming to form into something which is going to work both on the record, and on the live scene. The same sort of feeling seems to come around with Winter Warm Spring, the sound bite simply showing off some acoustic guitar work and showing that sometimes, music can do all of the talking that’s needed when it comes to a sample track.
Closing the selection with Reflections and Blame Me (the second track to feature Dani Burnett) there’s no real twist in the tail or massive surprise, just more soft and emotionally charged acoustic style music, designed for a sunny day or a reflective moment or two.
It’s hard to judge an album based on samples, but from the sounds of it this is an album which is going to stand Skin For A Canvas in good stead moving forwards. Throughout the samples I found myself calm and reflective, simply allowing the music to do the work for me and showing that when it comes to music, sometimes simple is better. Definitely an album and an artist I’ll be looking to keep an eye out.
To find out more about Skin For A Canvas, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Skin For A Canvas
We were recently contacted by Skin For A Canvas, an ambient acoustic experience made up of Dani Burnett and Ian Mortimer. Having both already played in well known acts from the Portsmouth area, their paths met in 2007 and the project came about. Having been writing and planning for the last 4 years, the guys have finally sorted out their debut album, The Soul Creates A Harmony, and so we thought it only right to check it out!
Opening with Pulling Through, there’s an immediate sense of serenity and calm, the soft acoustic notes flowing out of the speakers and absorbing you into their melodies, the music simply taking you to a new place where you can’t help but want to hear more and see what else is to come. The acoustic and ambient music is quite simply spine-tingling, building up throughout the track and keeping the sense of melody and harmony at the forefront of the track, offering you brief insights into their influences but never allowing themselves to move away from their own solid footing. Hello, My Missing Pieces continues this theme once again, straight away continuing the soft and melodic approach and allowing you to simply sit back and allow yourself to be involved. There’s a catchiness within the music here which is impossible to resist, somehow harking back to another band without sounding like a rip off or like any band you can actually place, there’s just a familiarity about it somehow.
Wise Words is a serious high point on the album, crafting a sound which wouldn’t be out of place in a monastery or cathedral, right up until the main line of ‘don’t you fucking judge me’ comes in to play! Although short, this track is incredibly powerful, almost offering up a message to anyone who has ever based their decisions on the views of others rather than going with their own feeling about things, it’s a track which to me, really stands out here. Everything That’s Past continues the approach of layered vocal lines over soft and melodic backing tracks, this time once again opting for the soft acoustic guitar line which almost fades in and out of being, adding in a further dimension of unknown to intrigue you even further. Another soothing yet dark and ominous track, as it comes to a close and the moments of Loosening The Grip Of Insanity come in to being, everything takes a turn for the reflective almost as if the band are allowing you a moment to take in what you’ve heard so far. There’s something incredible about this track as well, despite it being another short one. The soft guitar line transports you back to a different place and makes you remember moments from life which you’d forgotten about, very clever indeed.
Mother (Promise You) almost shows off the bands heavier influences, opening soft yet harking at more power to come as it grows around you. Harmonics echo around the softened music, sounding akin to Staind in some ways as it grows. What’s become most notable throughout the album so far is that despite their laid back approach to their music, there’s a real sense of power flowing through everything, always suggesting that they’re capable of more but instead choose to keep their music soft and reflective. Every Time is an interesting track, showing off different styles once again as it flows naturally on to allow the album to progress. Melodic and soothing, this is another moment of reflection, allowing you to once again sit back and think about things – it’s perfect for a time when you’ve got the freedom to just be and allow the music to do the work for your mind. Once again finishing with a shorter track in the form of When A Structure Collapses, this album seems to rapidly be becoming one of those which is going to get a lot of playtime, the sort of thing which you play whenever people come around as you feel you need to introduce them to the band.
Take A Drive (Let’s Be Free) is by far the longest song on the album, coming in at a whopping 11:19 long. Despite being a longer track, somehow the band have managed to stop it becoming dull or predictable, instead allowing the music to naturally evolve, taking on the atmospheric approach to make sure you’re still fully enveloped in the sound they’ve managed to achieve. There’s qualities here of early prog stuff as well as the atmospheric style, a mix which can be a huge risk sometimes, yet they seem to have once again pulled it off. Liar is another serious high point on the album, and quite possibly the track which I would class as my own personal favourite, there’s simply something about it which is impossible to resist. Soft yet powerful once again, the over all acoustic theme of this album works to make this so incredibly accessible that it’s nigh on impossible to resist, you feel like you have to hear it through to the finish to make sure you didn’t imagine any of it. Shifting into title track The Soul Creates A Harmony there’s finally a taste of some of that reserved power in the form of an electric solo. Soft yet once again powerful, this is a moment which should reassure anyone who has had their doubts and demonstrate that these guys could well be a serious force to be reckoned with.
Bonus tracks Take A Drive and Mother (different versions) come up next, before the album is brought to a close with Nailmann and we’re offered up one final morsel for consideration. It’s a strange finish to the album, but as a whole I don’t know that it matters. Closing on a dark and ominous note with whispered vocals, strange fairground noises and a sense of real darkness flowing through things, the soft melodic moments seem a million miles away as the suggestion that the next offering from these guys could well be very dark indeed takes over.
Personally, I really enjoyed this album and would recommend that anyone who thinks they might like it check it out, but be warned about the ending! I don’t know that the ending works with the rest of the album as a whole, but I think I understand their idea behind doing it. What you end up with is an album which will confuse you at some moments, but over all leave you with a real sense that what you’ve heard has been something special and something which will stay with you for a long while to come. Certainly one to keep an eye out for!
To find out more about Skin For A Canvas, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Opening with Pulling Through, there’s an immediate sense of serenity and calm, the soft acoustic notes flowing out of the speakers and absorbing you into their melodies, the music simply taking you to a new place where you can’t help but want to hear more and see what else is to come. The acoustic and ambient music is quite simply spine-tingling, building up throughout the track and keeping the sense of melody and harmony at the forefront of the track, offering you brief insights into their influences but never allowing themselves to move away from their own solid footing. Hello, My Missing Pieces continues this theme once again, straight away continuing the soft and melodic approach and allowing you to simply sit back and allow yourself to be involved. There’s a catchiness within the music here which is impossible to resist, somehow harking back to another band without sounding like a rip off or like any band you can actually place, there’s just a familiarity about it somehow.
Wise Words is a serious high point on the album, crafting a sound which wouldn’t be out of place in a monastery or cathedral, right up until the main line of ‘don’t you fucking judge me’ comes in to play! Although short, this track is incredibly powerful, almost offering up a message to anyone who has ever based their decisions on the views of others rather than going with their own feeling about things, it’s a track which to me, really stands out here. Everything That’s Past continues the approach of layered vocal lines over soft and melodic backing tracks, this time once again opting for the soft acoustic guitar line which almost fades in and out of being, adding in a further dimension of unknown to intrigue you even further. Another soothing yet dark and ominous track, as it comes to a close and the moments of Loosening The Grip Of Insanity come in to being, everything takes a turn for the reflective almost as if the band are allowing you a moment to take in what you’ve heard so far. There’s something incredible about this track as well, despite it being another short one. The soft guitar line transports you back to a different place and makes you remember moments from life which you’d forgotten about, very clever indeed.
Mother (Promise You) almost shows off the bands heavier influences, opening soft yet harking at more power to come as it grows around you. Harmonics echo around the softened music, sounding akin to Staind in some ways as it grows. What’s become most notable throughout the album so far is that despite their laid back approach to their music, there’s a real sense of power flowing through everything, always suggesting that they’re capable of more but instead choose to keep their music soft and reflective. Every Time is an interesting track, showing off different styles once again as it flows naturally on to allow the album to progress. Melodic and soothing, this is another moment of reflection, allowing you to once again sit back and think about things – it’s perfect for a time when you’ve got the freedom to just be and allow the music to do the work for your mind. Once again finishing with a shorter track in the form of When A Structure Collapses, this album seems to rapidly be becoming one of those which is going to get a lot of playtime, the sort of thing which you play whenever people come around as you feel you need to introduce them to the band.
Take A Drive (Let’s Be Free) is by far the longest song on the album, coming in at a whopping 11:19 long. Despite being a longer track, somehow the band have managed to stop it becoming dull or predictable, instead allowing the music to naturally evolve, taking on the atmospheric approach to make sure you’re still fully enveloped in the sound they’ve managed to achieve. There’s qualities here of early prog stuff as well as the atmospheric style, a mix which can be a huge risk sometimes, yet they seem to have once again pulled it off. Liar is another serious high point on the album, and quite possibly the track which I would class as my own personal favourite, there’s simply something about it which is impossible to resist. Soft yet powerful once again, the over all acoustic theme of this album works to make this so incredibly accessible that it’s nigh on impossible to resist, you feel like you have to hear it through to the finish to make sure you didn’t imagine any of it. Shifting into title track The Soul Creates A Harmony there’s finally a taste of some of that reserved power in the form of an electric solo. Soft yet once again powerful, this is a moment which should reassure anyone who has had their doubts and demonstrate that these guys could well be a serious force to be reckoned with.
Bonus tracks Take A Drive and Mother (different versions) come up next, before the album is brought to a close with Nailmann and we’re offered up one final morsel for consideration. It’s a strange finish to the album, but as a whole I don’t know that it matters. Closing on a dark and ominous note with whispered vocals, strange fairground noises and a sense of real darkness flowing through things, the soft melodic moments seem a million miles away as the suggestion that the next offering from these guys could well be very dark indeed takes over.
Personally, I really enjoyed this album and would recommend that anyone who thinks they might like it check it out, but be warned about the ending! I don’t know that the ending works with the rest of the album as a whole, but I think I understand their idea behind doing it. What you end up with is an album which will confuse you at some moments, but over all leave you with a real sense that what you’ve heard has been something special and something which will stay with you for a long while to come. Certainly one to keep an eye out for!
To find out more about Skin For A Canvas, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
