A few weeks ago, a band called “Henderson” reached out to me to ask me to review their new track, when they release it. Unlike the rest of my reviews, where I pick my favourite artists, I’m walking into this blind. They have released an EP of four tracks and a single, so far. The best of which are “Make My Day” and “Animal”.

Make My Day

The band’s first single, “Make My Day”, has one of the strongest bass guitar melodies I have heard. It is fantastic! It gets you moving and uplifts your spirits. The song also has a catchy hook and a great drumline. Josh Rhodes, the lead vocalist, sounds exceptional, especially considering what sounds like a restricted use of autotune. The song follows Josh’s breakup and the peculiar emotions he feels after it. He isn’t as broken as he might have anticipated. He makes ends meet, and life carries on the same. He still enjoys his life and lives the same. There is a hint at a disguised sadness though revealed by the mention of getting high. The mentioning shows that it is abnormal somehow, perhaps because he has started to us or has augmented his usage. There are also a few refrains, which connote that he is perhaps trying to convince himself that he is, in fact, okay, and is, in fact, making do. It’s a great sound with more than acceptable lyrics, so definitely worth a listen!

Animal

“Animal” was the first track on their EP “Skin On Skin“. The first half of the song sounds marvellous. Josh is constantly on point, and the echo on him and the discordant guitars riffs sound flawless. From “my animal inside” to the “turning green” line sound incredible and are so screamable. They are simply magical! The stillness, the weak peak, the return to that former tranquillity and the explosion make for an exciting and beautiful melody and crescendos. It really is a fantastic piece of music. Except for the fact that it’s four and a half minutes long. The ultimate minute should have been excluded: it makes the song worse. There is a pretty bland forty-five second long instrumental, followed by a repeat of the chorus, but with super-heavy guitar riffs, which drown out everything else. I love the song, and I don’t think that a remaster, where these few issues here and there are cleaned up, would go amiss. Nevertheless, it is fantastic. The strain Josh puts himself in the first half under sounds present and tangible. It is recommendable, despite the issues, and well worth a listen nevertheless.

So Henderson clearly have a pedigree comparable to much more popular bands, and definitely, deserve more than their hundred monthly listeners. I’m excited to release my review of their new release. I’ll be doing so with their release, so look out for it later this month!