Todays review request is focused on the latest offering from South African powerhouse Future Radio. The single, "Stand Up & Fight," is set for release this Friday, January 15th. I love getting early access to your music, guys. It's truly an honor and I hope it continues.
The song opens with a driving drum beat, and I am immediately drawn into it. There's an indescribable energy that builds throughout this intro, and it comes to a head with the aggressive guitar riff that joins in mere seconds later. Now with any new single I listen to, I fear for when I hear the singer's voice for the first time. To me, the music can pull you in and build your energy up, but it can either be built further, or completely derailed by the sound of the singer's voice. I believe that the two biggest stand-out components of any song, are the main riff/melody, and the singer's voice. In the case of Future Radio, no energy is lost at all when the frontman starts to wail. His voice is a perfect fit, and the power within this track shows no signs of slowing down.
The timing of the release of this song could not be more appropriate. The lyrics behind this self-empowerment anthem are so poignant, especially at a time where all media; every channel, every newspaper, seems to be feeding the spread of fear in people. The message that I believe should be taken away from this is that we should all try to take it upon ourselves to continue to learn and grow in our own ways, and break past the barriers that are put in front of us by the powerful and wealthy. The world is ours, and you live your life for you and you only, so it's up to you to make it what you want, it's up to you to make yourself who you want to be.
What I like the best about this track is the overall tone and energy that it brings to the table. It revitalizes indie rock, and brings a fresh, punk-like tone to it. In fact, call me crazy but I would even argue that there's some metal flavors in there too - especially at the end when the energy of the track builds past its breaking point and seems to boil over. The only thing that I wish these guys did differently here, was include the passionate, face-melting guitar solo that I was waiting so eagerly for. They've got the hard driving rhythm section, they have the badass riff, the anthemic and powerful lyrics, the only thing missing was the solo. If they had dropped it in right after the bridge, it would've been the ultimate one-two punch to cap off an otherwise perfect song.
I would argue that the sound this band creates could be the second most beautiful thing to come from South Africa, right after Charlize Theron. Needless to say I will continue to look into Future Radio, just to see what else they have to offer. And I definitely am looking forward to hearing what they drum up next.
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