Ryan's Gig Guide - April 2018

WWW. R YA N S G I G G U I D E . C OM rgg Apr 2018 - p.12 The Verdict Reviews by Nick J. Townsend More people would actually appreciate the pop charts if there were songs like 'Playing The Game' being played and artists such as Stephen White performing them. Recommended for fans of Sam Smith, Craig David and The Script but this is better and with no cheese.A modern catchy electro funk dance track standing tall like a Skynet of cyborgs sung with so much confi- dence and natural skill; this was a joy to listen to and I honestly wasn't expecting it to be as entertaining as this.This tune takes me back to when music charts were full of style and real stars with character; StephenWhite should be a giant among men or maybe even a giant knocking about with other giants but shorter ones of course. Musically it's your modern elec- tro-retro mix giving off a Manga anime sound- track verses 90s club music vibe; whatever the hell that means (that popped in my head). Brilliant single and I wish this well as it deserves to chart high. www.facebook.com/stephenwhitemusic SINGLE of the month Playing The Game by Stephen White Highly recommended for fans of The Levellers and Frank Turner. What's very important with 'Break The Bottle' is that it's all about the deep meaningful lyrics and the strong natural vocals of Blackcountry artist Jess Silk; a collection of highly passionate songs written by a fiery adamant young woman using nothing but her voice and an acoustic guitar to make intelligent points.There's no drums, foot taps or percussion and with twelve songs it suffers as an album because of this but if you embrace the heartfelt words of wis- dom then you'll hear an incredible release. High- lights include the fantastic 'Is This Poetry?' with its deconstruction of modern music culture, the anti-conflict of 'Hold Off OnYour Bombs' and fi- nally 'SuggestionsWelcome' with its collection of well told short stories covering aspects of war, politics, cri me, poverty and religion; all done in great taste. www.facebook.com/JessSilk Music ALBUM of the month Break The Bottle by Jess Silk