A recent single release from Mike C. Nichols delivers a spacious and atmospheric soundscape that brings to mind cinematic approaches and this sort of haunt that flows through the songs ether in the form of ghost notes and during all of this you get a story built from the honesty that you become attached to because it's got this character to it that's just robust.
"Alvarado" has some outstanding progression and no changes that have a very mysterious undertone to them but the whole soundscape and textures have a way of grabbing at you and in the end, you become engulfed with them and then washed away with them.
This was really a bit of an escape, and you don't expect that at first, but by the end of the song you have to snap yourself back into reality again and look around the room to reacclimate yourself back to your surroundings.
I absolutely adore songs like this that take you away from your space and put you in a different one altogether because it's not very often that that happens.
This track has such a massive underbelly to it and there is an almost stripped-down feel at times because you really can pay attention to the vocals and lyrics a lot throughout the track which again, helps you get the vibe of the character and persona that this gives off.
This was impactful for me and came through as a little bit more of an experience than just a song itself which I loved of course.
The single is part of an A side / B side release and the second track to that is called "Shattered Town" which features a more upfront acoustic guitar but still with these vast and open synth pads that serve almost like strings adding depth to the song as it tells the story in great detail.
There's something about this that gives a little bit of a classic rock influence and the whole thing comes through with a theatrical approach at times almost like you're watching a scene of a play.
Even with that, you know that there's some kind of honesty here and that the words that are being said are coming from some kind of emotional drive because you can hear that not just in the vocals, but the entire sound of the song.
It's almost anthemic in a strange way and has this alive and breathing underbelly to it.
I love the vocal effect because it's subtle and there are parts of this track in particular where the vocals are used as an instrument, and this adds a whole different layer to the song for that part and it's got such a doomed feel to it but I think that's part of what the point of the song is.
It's about being doomed in some way shape or form.
The guitar performance is awesome and the key performance behind it also cuts outside the box there and does cool hard towards the end of the track that separates it from the rest.
This was a very unique but strangely inviting feel and it lets you just get engulfed and everything.
I would suggest listening to both songs instead of just the one obviously because then you kind of get the full story and you're able to soak it in the way it was meant to be.
Check this out as soon as you get a chance, you won't regret it.