Hailing from Jayess, Mississippi, Cole Powell debuts with Thanks For The Broken Heart.  The genre is a hybrid of rock, pop, blues, and country, with just a twist of jazz.  All those influences easily distinguishable on any of the eight songs.

Always a good sign when an artist starts off strong, he does so with “Stay (Begging You)”.  What I like about this track is its clean straightforward bluesy pop/rock vibe.  Definitely radio-ready.  Good dynamics as well, with its amped up chorus and electric guitars.  It’s followed by “Beautiful Now”.  The first thing I noticed about this song are the programmed drums.  Powell is obviously going for a nice commercial sound.  He reaches his mark with this one.

“Lost” is a duet with singer Brittany D.  The song itself isn’t all that exciting, but I like the juxtaposition of the his-and-her points of view.  It’s reminiscent of many country/pop tunes in recent years, most notably Kid Rock and Sheryll Crow’s “Picture”.  I also like how the music gets choppy a little after two minutes in.

“Now That You’re Gone” is what appears to be a ballad at first, featuring more of those programmed drums, along with some live ones later on.  But the song switches gears and gains momentum at about 1:44, when it becomes a full-fledged mid-tempo pop-rock track, but without losing the integrity of the ballad we just came out of.

My absolute favorite tune on here is “Not The One To Say (I Told You So)”.  This is a perfect track, and Powell seems most comfortable in this mix of jazz and rock that reminds me of a lot of John Mayer’s work.  The rolling drum line adds the perfect bit of tension for an otherwise mellow song.

At the risk of sounding cliché, Cole Powell is an artist with a tremendous amount of potential.  Full of talent and full of flavor.  He sings with a bluesy flare that can at times seem contrived, but for the most part works.  I do feel he has tapped into his sound, and dare I say, found his niche.  But he needs to tweak it a bit and really capitalize on his strong points, adding some more of that jazzy goodness.

Thanks For The Broken Heart showcases Powell’s ability to achieve greatness, as demonstrated by “Not The One To Say (I Told You So)”, but the verdict is still out on whether or not he can do it on a consistent basis.  I wouldn’t say he achieved that end on this particular project.  I will say, however, that this was a very smooth listening experience.  Great musicianship, a little moody and edgy, but not enough to take away from its commercial appeal.  Cole Powell is an artist, definitely to keep on the radar.

They’ve been around for a number of years.  Numerous placements on TV, film, commercials as well satellite radio and more.  No strangers to the NHL’s Dallas Stars, who commissioned the band for their power play song.  But for those who’s radar managed to miss the industrial metal band RivetHead, their latest full-length effort, Doomsday for Optimism is not a bad place to start.

The album doesn’t open as strong as I would’ve preferred.  “Super Zero” is a solid track but doesn’t have that wow factor the band is known for.  “Deaf Ears”, the second song, would’ve made a much better choice in my opinion.  There are more things going on in that one to keep the listener tapped in.

RH fans will notice their current sound having more of that electronic industrial leaning heard on Zero Gravity’s title track from 2009.  But to be clear, there isn’t any abandonment of the pure metal you’ve enjoyed from the rest of their catalog.  They’re just reaching a little further this time, a little deeper, into their musical palette and repertoire.  They even slow things down for the contemplative “Buried Another One”, an emotion-packed song dealing with loss as Steve Page sings, “Won’t someone please do something, I’m falling I’m not done yet.  I’m counting back to zero.”  These are lyrics that immediately remind me of many a Linkin Park chorus—not a bad thing, by the way.

“Breathe Me In” is by far, my favorite on here.  It has that I need to punch someone in the face right now-vibe.  “So sick of complacence.  Don’t think I can take this.”   Love it, love it, love it.  “Dreaming of Reality” definitely has the most dynamics out of all the songs, with its eerie backdrop during the quiet verses, and then the high-energy chorus to wake you up.

I don’t know if I would go as far as to say Doomsday for Optimism is RivetHead’s best-to-date.  I will say, however, there aren’t any fillers on here.  This is a band that takes their music seriously.  They’re not afraid to grow and expand their sound either, even to the point of including the cinematic soundscape of an instrumental, “Echoes in Padded Room”.  The album ends with “Turn This Up”, a song telling us all that this is one band who’s relentless energy isn’t going anywhere any time soon.  A solid album, indeed.

http://www.musicemissions.com/artists/albums/index.php?album_id=14480

We take a look at Carefully today, by Moscow-born-currently in NYC-Olya.  From big stages in Moscow to the Bowery Electric in Manhattan’s East Village, Olya has been navigating her way and making a name for herself in this constant-evolving musical landscape.  This is her debut EP.

There are two things that immediately jumped out at me when I first started playing this.  First, it starts off smooth as hell with this jazzy lounge song called “Independ-a-nt”.  It definitely falls into some world-music genre with its Latin and Middle Eastern flare.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Second, Olya comes in with a fairly strong Russian accent.  This totally threw me off.  I was expecting it to annoy me after awhile, but it never did.  It’s sexy.  It also doesn’t hurt that she has a nice voice.  About two minutes into the song, there’s a brief Santana-like guitar solo.  Very nice touch.  Strong start for the record.

My favorite track on here is “Tsaritsa”.  A ballad sung in her native language, I can’t comment on the lyrics, but it sounds beautiful and leaves me wanting more.  “LetItGo” is plain funky, in the vein of The Brand New Heavies (remember them?).  It has a nice steady rhythm bordering on the sound of Guru’s Jazzmatazz records.

The EP’s title track, “Carefully”, is the second ballad.  Mainly voice and guitar until the drums kick in about a minute and a half into it.  The most interesting part of the song comes thirty seconds after this, when Olya does her own call-and-response-style harmony.

Overall, Carefully is a decent EP.  I didn’t think “WhatYouDo” and “Links” were as strong as the others on here.  And since there are only a total of six tracks, that of course matters.  But we have a showcase of a young talented singer.  One with a crap-load of style.  One who’s worth checking out.  One who definitely has the chops to make some good music.  Russian or American, for that matter.

The album starts strong with the smooth and catchy “Do It All Over Again”, one of my favorites on here.  The song immediately lets you know that Janzen’s charm goes hand in hand with her subtlety.  There’s nothing over-the-top about her.  No distinguishable pretense.  A beautiful voice on top of the sound of some of Nashville’s best.

Underlying “Hanging By A Thread” is a fantastic piano-driven rhythm that really gels all the sounds together.  It’s a song about marriage, in all its great and mundane glory.  “Hollow”, one of the three songs Janzen wrote (along with “Everybody Knows Better” and “You Take Me Home”), depicts a teenage girl wrestling with life’s decisions.  The chorus sums it up best with, “You don’t want to live your life in the shallows.”

By the end of it all, this is a well-performed, well-written, and well-produced album, with great vocals.  It contends with the best of them within its genre.  There were times I was reminded of the country tendencies of jazz singer Nora Jones, and other times where I heard the influence of Bonnie Raitt.  I would wish for a couple of more stand-out tracks.  A couple of more songs to consider obvious singles.  But all and all, the sound is smooth sailing from start to finish.  As it turns out, Sad Circus is not so sad after all.