Project Description
THE ENGLISH RAIN
“MY TOWN”
(Single Review)
Reviewer: Vicky Hebbs
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“My Town” is the first single from The English Rain’s forthcoming debut album, “Echoes of You”. The English Rain hail not from Britain as you may expect, but from sunny Brisbane, and they are named after The Beatles song of the same name. The band hail from Brisbane and were co-founded by Steve Boom and Neil Steward. This single is a warm pop rock number, but The English Rain spans a multitude of genres in their music, writing songs that are as much pop as they are rock, as filled with electronic vibes as country influences.
For me, “My Town” is characterised by relaxed instrumentals and lyrics celebrating the place you call home. I especially enjoyed the dramatic strings in the background, complemented by the energetic backbeat pulsing through the song. The song has a strong hook that I loved hearing throughout the song, and the beautiful melody that makes you want to sway along to the song’s beat.
The English Rain invited musicians they admired to join them in forming a sort of collective to write songs and provide a spectrum of sounds influenced by all the contributions. Alister Bell of Speedstar fame takes on the vocals in “My Town.” He has that slight twang to his voice which adds a depth to the vocals. The chorus takes it up a notch and Bell exhibits his vocal range as he sings higher pitched. When I hear his voice combined with the song’s light guitar-picking and smooth strings, I can definitely hear The English Rain’s influences of Tom Petty, The Beatles, and The Jam.
“Familiar faces smile and walk on by, and I know I am home.”
“The city gets inside you like the blood in your veins.”
The repetition of the chorus is comforting and uplifting, contributing to the warm feeling of gentle nostalgia the song leaves you with. The song is soothing and feels like something that would be perfect to listen to on a warm, sunny day driving though your home city. Because while this song is partly a tribute to the city of Brisbane, I am sure anyone listening will feel a nostalgia for their own home in the considered lyricism and warming harmonies.
This single is also meant to be in tribute to the memory of Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens, a man The English Rain band member and founder, Steve, had the chance to work with before his passing away. The band are also supposed to be working on their album now, so hopefully we will get to hear their debut album sometime soon and get to learn about the influences and ideas for all their other songs.
This song inspires a truly feel-good atmosphere, and Bell’s vocals perfectly complement the smooth instrumentals. If you are a fan of indie pop bands such as DMA’s or Rainy Day Women, I am certain you will really enjoy this song because it shares some of their brand of nostalgia and instrumentals. If you are looking for something that will make you smile and warm you like the Brisbane sun, a song to take you back to lazy summers, this single is it!
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“Why would I be anywhere else but My Town?”
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Connect with THE ENGLISH RAIN!
Spotify – triplejUnearthed – Facebook
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BIO
The English Rain is a Brisbane based band, co-founded by Steve Boom and Neil Steward. Their influences, bands like The Beatles, The Jam and Tom Petty, distilled into a sound similar to indie pop bands like The Shins, DMA’s and Astral Drive. The goal has always been to try to write songs with strong melodies and hooks and we love jangly guitar driven pop songs.
The band was named after Steve’s favourite Beatles song, and that the rain in England could be both depressing and joyous, which covered the feeling of the songs. During 2019 the pair decided to finally record their forthcoming debut album Echoes of You and start the project with the first single My Town.
‘The idea was to invite people we respected and were fans of, to form a collective that could evolve and morph depending on the song’ said Steve.
For My Town they asked Alister Bell of speedstar to provide vocals, and the results were so good, he is going to handle quite a few songs on the album. Jason Millhouse from the Sean Sennett/Rob Hirst band plays multiple instruments on the track as well as producing the single and album.
The first single My Town is both a tribute to the city of Brisbane as well as to the memory of Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens. Steve said
“I was lucky enough to work with, and get to know Grant during my time at EMI, until his sad passing in 2006. I received a call the morning after, and instinctively picked up the guitar and started writing the song.”
The band will be back in the studio mid year to finish the album.
‘We have the luxury of having a catalogue of about 140 songs so the first album track listing is mostly settled. I have had the demos in a playlist of the album for awhile now and originally concerned with the different styles of songs on the record’ said Steve. ‘ My fear was that would going from a jangly pop song into a trip hop song then to a rock song be too much for the people, but ultimately they all sound like The English Rain, so that gives it a consistency.’
Whilst the debut single is a breezy jangle pop song, The English Rain play a variety of styles including guitar pop, rock, country and electronica.
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