Music from Rainy Skies

Out of all the bands and musicians I have reviewed in the past I would have to say that Swiss Lips are one of the first electro/pop/dance acts I have been asked to review. I’m a little rusty when it comes to popular music, having turned my back on pop music back in my early teenage years and favouring grunge music over more polished and manufactured sounding bands, but I have to admit I would eat my words with Swiss Lips.

The first song on their self titled EP is “Danz” it’s instantly catchy, there are elements of 80’s sounding synth in there, with incredibly melodic vocals and catchy lyrics. What I love about this track is the textured sound of the track, just as you pinpoint one sound you hear another. The drums are snappy and very electro and the bass is like an underlying rumble, there’s even some fantastic guitar playing towards the end of the track. In essence it is an incredibly catchy pop song but there’s so many elements of other sounds and influences crammed into 3 minutes and 32 seconds that it’d be unfair to just label the band as pop, they’re so much more.

Next up is “Grow” which starts of with a mix of layered electro sounds and guitars, I almost feel as though I’m in a classic 80’s coming of age film by John Hughes or the like. There are vocal harmonies in this track which again steer Swiss Lips away from being labelled as generic pop, they sound slightly influenced by elements of Noah and the Whale in this track. It’s an incredibly uplifting song and I actually can’t help but nod my head and sing along. There some incredibly synth work that happens towards the latter part of the track which is a particular highlight for me, as a fan of 80’s synth music.

The final song is “U Got The Power” which seems to have influences of Friendly Fires. It seems strange to describe a song as sweet but this song is sweet, the lyrics are lovely and the music that accompanies it is perfect. If you were in a club or this came on the radio you would find it hard to remain still. Drums, bass, electro loops and synth, it’s all here in this one track but it’s not over complicated and it certainly doesn’t sound amateur.

I’d very surprised if in a couple of years time Swiss Lips weren’t a familiar name to many people. They certainly know how to write a good pop song but they also know their music well enough to include elements of other music to prevent them sounding too generic and similar to other bands and groups labelled as pop music. If you’re not a fan of ‘pop’ then check out Swiss Lips, they’re so much more and trust me when I say that you will find yourself falling in love with at least one of their songs.

Words: Georgina Smith