It's that time of year where festival season is a dim and distant memory, the nights have well and truly drawn in. My morning run and dog walk takes place under the stars, and evening has well and truly set in by the time I finish work, but all is not lost. Autumn comes with so much to look forward to, the music industry heads back indoors, the new releases step up for the next two months before slowing down again for Christmas and we get inner city festivals which showcase new music. One of these festivals which is held in Cardiff every October is the much loved and respected Swn Festival, a multi-venue festival taking place throughout the city over a weekend, bringing together hundreds of people who all come together to enjoy what Cardiff has to offer.
Swn has been going since 2007 and has grown and evolved during the years to ensure that it still holds a firm place in the music industry calendar. In our time writing for AMP magazine this was a weekend we would look forward to every year and you can only imagine our excitement when we were given guest passes to the festival. Whose to say dreams don’t come true. One of the things that Swn offers is respect and trust between the music bookers and fans, it is one of those festivals where as a music fan you have 100% trust in the bookers. You can go in to any venue on any day of the festival and find some new music to fall in love with. You can browse through the line up in the build up to have a taste of what you could be experiencing which is exactly what I have been doing this week which has led me to discover Spielmann and to fall head over heels in love with his debut EP Fifteen Minutes with Spielmann.
For those of you who have yet to be introduced to Spielmann, his non performing name is Ben Lewis and is well known in the Leeds music scene. He has been in a number of bands including guitarist for Menace Beach. He is also a producer and promoter amongst the Leeds music scene. I also read that he has supported Yard Act and Kaiser Chiefs. If that is not enough to pique your interest then how about the title of his debut EP Fifteen Minutes with Spielmann which was released in May. Firstly what a great title that is! You get so much from that title, it has a very nostalgic feel to it, you know what you are going to get, you are going to set aside fifteen minutes of your busy life to discover something new and get to know the recording artist.
Although having a great title for an EP would soon fall flat on its face if the music was not up to standard. Well guess what, every song on this four track EP is incredible. If you are someone who loves pop music, songs that are full of synths, hooks, melodies, uplifting moments, dreamy and passionate vocals then this is the EP for you. 10,000 hours opens the EP with some sounds that could have been lifted from the 1980’s but sound as equally as relevant and fresh today. This is not a rehash of music from another era, this is taking influences from the past and using those influences to create one of the greatest pop songs of the decade. The lyrics are very observational about how we consume our media, how we are drowning in podcasts. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good podcast but I do find myself wondering at times how many of these podcasts don’t get listened to, don’t make any difference, and whilst we are spending hours getting lost in these podcasts what are we missing out on.
Just Like Everybody Else is an epic, cinematic, sweeping song that will leave you feeling ready for whatever the day has stored for you. The lyrics are ones that I certainly can relate to and I am sure I won’t be the only one. “Its a lot to find a job that pays the bill and have a side hustle that still fulfills you”. That chorus resonated with me and sums up my relationship with writing over the years, every piece I have written over the last twenty years and more has been done as a side hustle, none of my writing has been paid pieces, it has been purely out of love for the music that I write about whilst holding down a full time job to pay the bills.
Under The Weather is one of those songs that should be on every radio station, every playlist on your streaming services, ok I could have said that about every song on this EP as these songs are truly pop music at its very best. What I love about this song is the way it draws you in, keeps hold of you whilst delivering thought provoking lyrics about life and the world we live in “I wanted to live a life / To live a life / To live a life without regrets / But living’s hard when you realise / This is the best its gonna get / Is this the best it’s gonna get?” Please note the question mark at the end of that line, it is the little things like that in songwriting that can only come from the mind of a lyrical genius. Ok yes, I used the word genius maybe some may say I am getting over excited here, but seriously could you come up with a line like that, set to a tune like this and think to ask a question at the end of the chorus.
The EP closes with It’s A Lifetime which sees Spielmann reflecting on life, getting older and the changes we have to deal with “Didn’t think I’d get this old / Always knew my hair would turn thin”. I have not had to deal with hair thinning, just a load of grey hair has been my experience in recent years. The lyrics do take a dark turn “maybe we should jack it in / Take a bunch of pills / And leave our fortune to the kids”. From doing my research for this article I am assured that Ben is ok and this song is just a take on life, growing up and how we spend our time and adapt to modern life.
Of course you know what to do next. Pour yourself a drink of choice, take a seat in your favorite chair and have a listen to this awe inspiring pop music. The EP is available on all streaming services or even better head over to Bandcamp and buy the EP which was released on a limited edition coffee bag.
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