Tommy Ashby | Viren Neel

Nothing warms the ice from around our hearts faster than seeing familiar faces making waves with their new releases. And it definitely conjures some warm and fuzzy feelings to see artists return to the blog, trusting us, once again, with their work.

We last heard from Scottish indie-folk hero Tommy Ashby when he dropped his feel-good track, “Not That Far To Go,” but he has returned to us with “Lifeline.” This song has those faithful, tried and true elements of a wondrous folk tune: gently plucked acoustic guitar, soft vocals with tasty harmonies, and orchestration in the background to offer us a wide and cinematic landscape as we stare into our very own souls. “Lifeline” is certainly more introspective than his last offering, but its gentle rhythm and enchanting melody more than justify its existence in this vast universe of music. And knowing Ashby, it won’t be long before another single arrives, so let’s all gather around the warmth of this one while we wait.

Viren Neel last wooed us with his musical tale of Bonnie and Clyde through the track, “Runaway Lovers,” a song that won us over as soon as we hit play– even before we had discovered its fantastic subject matter. He’s returned to us with “This Wednesday Night, Pt. 1,” and it appears that he’s slowly turning up the knobs on the amps, because once this track gets rolling, it is quite the indie-rocking ride. Listeners will be unknowingly tapping their feet and bobbing their heads before the second chorus even arrives. With his smooth tenor and the ever-present riffing of a lead guitar, we can only assume that, if it exists, Part 2 is bound to be another high score that Neel can add to his stack of winners.

This just in! Part 2 does exist and we are linking to it for your convenience:

And there you have it… Your entire Wednesday night is covered!

-TM