Review Summary: Michael Strong’s unique voice and heartfelt delivery of songs, mixed with a sense of swirling sadness is unlike anything on his last release with ‘The Ghost Anyway’ and anything I’ve heard before.
After having the pleasure of hearing ‘Michael Strong And The Ghost Anyway’s’ 2011 EP release ‘Black Room White Room’ only a few short months ago, who knew he was already hard at work on another? Only this time around, Michael Strong goes about everything himself and doesn’t have ‘The Ghost Anyway’ to back him up.
The result ‘A Cold Day Or The Street That Sadness Owned‘is an intimate solo album that highlights his unique vocal talents and crosses a number of genres, whilst being driven by acoustic guitar. The first cut off this record ‘Post Animal’ starts off with slow acoustic guitar and layered vocal harmonies with a female singer. The inclusion of soft female backing vocals helps to warm this track and blends nicely with the subtle hints of a country style suggested by the acoustic guitar. The track ‘Nothing Nothing Nothing’ soon follows and the acoustic guitar that leads this song bears similarities to Green Day’s ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’. Unlike the first track ‘Post Animal’ which doesn’t really get you singing, ‘Nothing Nothing Nothing’ has a hook that will catch you and reel you in for the keeping. Combine this catchy hook with poppy acoustic guitar that builds up into hand clapping and vocals, which at times resemble R.E.M.’s lead singer Michael Stipe, and you have the perfect single to rope in new listeners.
The next noteworthy track on the album is ‘When It Touches Logic’, which maintains the steady acoustic vibe of the album, but also takes it up a notch. The slow moving acoustic guitar and Michael Strong’s emotionally charged vocals create a huge sense of depth in this song, although instruments are kept to a minimum. Despite having lyrics throughout the song such as ‘everything gets cold when it touches logic’, this track manages to ignite something within the listener which keeps them enticed for the beautiful ending. From here on in the album maintains its steady acoustic offerings, while also adding subtle hints of electric guitar and more layered vocals to spice them up a little. Just when you think ‘A Cold Day Or The Street That Sadness Owned’ is out of tricks, it throws the listener a curve ball in the form of the song ‘What Are You Gonna Do?’. This is the only track on the album that features electric guitars and drumming, which creates a funky beat, not yet heard on the album. Although this song is great, its intense vocals, upbeat tempo and pace changes feel out of place on an album that consists of mainly of slow numbers.
On the whole Michael Strong has amazed me for a second time this year, with his emotionally fuelled solo release ‘A Cold Day Or The Street That Sadness Owned‘. Most of the album relies on soft acoustic guitar with subtle hints and flavours plucked from other genres. Michael Strong’s unique voice and heartfelt delivery of songs, mixed with a sense of swirling sadness is unlike anything on his last release with ‘The Ghost Anyway’ and anything I’ve heard before.
