Review of 'Beautiful Star' from Sean MacLeod
- Richard Blowes
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
After the avant leaning I Know Not, Beautiful Star showcases the classic 60s influenced song writing of ex Cisco guitarist Sean MacLeod
Single: Beautiful Star
Artist: Sean MacLeod
When we reviewed I Know Not from Sean MacLeod's upcoming album That's When the Earth Becomes a Star, we warned listeners that if they were expecting songs like his previous releases then they may be in for a shock.
We loved I Know Not, a lean in to his avant garde side, and we love Beautiful Star too which highlights his ability to write sixties influenced catchy pop melodies and hook filled harmonies.
Beautiful Star offers the lush comfort of classic pop albeit with the touches which lift it out of the league of much of today's commercial music.
The track starts off with a descending guitar figure giving spy thriller and reminiscent of Portishead's Sour Times. As this track sampled a Lalo Schifrin tune from a 1968 Mission: Impossible TV series, the spy allusion is as unsurprising as it is fitting.
Where I Know Not surprised with its microtones and unusual verses, Beautiful Star offers the lush comfort of classic pop albeit with the touches which lift it out of the league of much of today's commercial music. For example, the effected vocals (think John Lennon's verses on A Day In The Life) which provide a slightly eerie echo to the track and the backing vocals which act more a like a drone rather than a simple repeat of the words.
Stylish, timeless and with a seemingly effortless, sultry charm, Beautiful Star should be a shoe in for the next James Bond movie. Sync agents take note.
Sean, a former and founding member of the Dublin based band Cisco, has a solo style influenced by the sound of many sixties groups such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Motown but also merges other styles like folk and classical, and even elements of the Avant Garde. While trying to build his music around catchy pop melodies and interesting harmonic structures, the lyrics often present a much more philosophical, even spiritual dimension to the songs.
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