After being launched last Wednesday in Manila, I finally managed to get myself (yes I had to buy it for P260 at the Odyssey in Ayala) the new CD of Solace, a relatively new band composed of a quartet relatively old to the music scene. The four guys who have such varying and diverse influences and musical preferences strangely churn out a style of music that is both refreshing and real.
But what are people saying about Solace and their music? I did a google and let's see what I found.
http://www.titikpilipino.com/artist/...set=0#comments
Date: Mar 24, 2006
By: anton
Subject: new breed of pinoy music/talent
Message:
Solace is one band you should hear today aside from bamboo, sandwich, kitchie or barbie because they play music for the thinking people..they are very good, passionate and truly serious about playing..their songs really cut through and provide definitive imagery..i think they are cool!check out their album "Never Easy". good buy!
Thats the only think I could find online about the band right now. Alright. They are new, so one has really caught on to them or the music. But what does their management and their marketing bright boys want to say about the band and their music? Here is what they have to say...
SOLACE is about music that resonates from within. It is intense and intimate, as it is disarming in its honesty and unnerving in its sincerity.
Though musically superb, it has not lost “heart” as the album is not about catchy hooks and melodies, nor groovy bass lines, frantic guitars or polyrhythmic drum patterns, it’s not even about the moving chord progressions or the soaring yet soothing vocals. It’s about music that is fresh, cozy and comforting; new, yet surprisingly familiar. It is about good story telling.
I gave the album a good listen, and I appreciated all but two of the songs which I felt sounded like fillers... as a listener we all are grabbed by songs not simply because of a catchy tune or a good hook, but because we relate to them.
Their label describes their music as honest, and sincere.
A listener describes the music as passionate and vivid with passionate imagery.
Their label further declares, good story telling.
Here is what i think. Indeed, everyone likes a good story, especially one that we relate to, identify with and the bonus is if its in the form of a song, we catch on to the tune and sing along.
Music today is so marketing driven and the music industry full of engineered hits and artists. Engineered and manipulated because there was market for them. Music has long become a business, and no longer an art. Today artists are created to fit into a look or personality that was popular; bands write songs which are either ridiculous thus catchy, or shallow and cliched. Music business has become showbusiness, and has long been false, hypocritical and fake.
Solace tries to break into the music business, by going back to what it was all about, about the music and not about business.. no pretense, no flash or glam, no emphasis on pretty boy looks, or the extreme swing of the pendulum of the lacking of looks department which was to pack a lot of attitude evident in body art and piercings, erratic behavior and on stage thrashing. Solace simply just puts their stories of their lives, loves and losses into a little over an hour's worth of music.
Solace breaks the mold by declaring, yes were taken, some of us are in committed relationships, married, some of us got kids... and its on the album. I remember a radio interview I caught when the female DJ remarked "they are all taken". From experience, the music label wants their talents to be as public property as possible, withholding personal information such as status or availability if only to make them more appealing to fans. Bottom line is, Solace speaks about honesty, and tells stories that are true.
Its all about the music and not marketing, because the music if really good -- and it actually is -- will actually market itself.
SOLACE Album Review - Unpretentious Stories shall be your Solace
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