Single Review: Little Kingdom

The one aspect of music reviewing I love the most, is finding out about new musicians, the depth of talent that New Zealand has is astounding and very exciting. Beacon Bloom, I applaud you and your efforts, and that is not just because you are based in Christchurch, even though that gets extra brownie points.

Little Kingdom is the band’s third single release, and this one is a corker, using an experimental synth sound to inspire even the dowdiest of days. Though I must admit, it took a few listens, to really get the sound resonating around my jelly like brain, but this is the beautiful aspect of the song, whether this was intentional or not, it enabled me to achieve an awareness of calmness within myself without my knowing. If you are a fan of bands like Arcade Fire, this is certainly along the same style, and production greatness. The song was inspired by founding band member Ryan Ferris who said;

“This song is my attempt to encapsulate the way Berlin shaped me in the years I lived there. It’s a song to Berlin and a song to myself.”

For me as a reviewer, a song should do one of two things, does it change my mood? And does the song make me stop and think? As a human traversing this thing we called life, it is paramount that we take stock now and again and listen to the voices that are being amplified. Some of the great revolutions throughout history have included artists and musicians, they are the backbone of our consciousness to some degree.

The start of the song I really like, it allowed me to disappear into my imagination, akin to being on a yacht travelling to places unknown, but excited about the possibilities to come. I like how the band change the tempo on multiple occasions during the song to give it a well balanced mix that kept my attention all the way to the end. I was actually disappointed when the song came to an end, I could have almost enjoyed another twist in the tale, but that is why we have the continuous button to aid us.

I like to end my review with a definitive answer to whether or not I think you should take your time to go out and listen to this song or not.I would hate to put a number on how many songs have been recorded since the start of music as we know it. I am a strong believer in taking the time to listen to others when they have taken the time to produce a work of art. With all that said, even if I did not take that stance, I would highly recommend you go out of your way to listen to this single, the only aspect that goes against this song is a slightly higher tempo feel that really gets my body bouncing off the walls, but that is because I love high octane pumping songs.

All in all, this gets a bright, sparky 4 out of 5, this is a band with an exciting future.