“And I'm just a man with a voice that’s been tainted,” Reelin' Me In, The Peaceful Kings
To jump right into this Fresh Finds, I want to introduce you to The Peaceful Kings. Their music is genuine, raw, and honest. Some songs off the EP clocks in at over five minutes and give the listeners a chance to listen to some instrumentals. If you want to know who they sound like before you find them on Spotify, I found personally that their music sounded like a combination of Andreas Moe and the band Saint Hotel. It's a unique style of indie-folk/pop and easy listening with elements of brass, acoustic guitars, and harmonicas, like in the song Reelin' Me In.
What caught my attention the most were the raw vocal tracks in each song. A lot of what you hear today is heavily produced, nothing wrong with that, but it‘s refreshing to hear someone’s true vocals and vocal style. The lead singer has a great tone. It grabs you in a way where you want to finish the song and play the next. It’s really a fun EP to listen to from start to finish. Each song is different from the one before and in that way, ties the whole EP together.
The production on The Grand Gesture EP is fantastic. The mixes are balanced, nothing bleeds through the tracks and everything is level. There are a lot of variations in each track with progressions and melodies. You can tell how much work went into arranging each song with the song structure, transitions and how they filled spaces up lyrically and musically.
The Grand Gesture EP has been in the making for months and going through the stages of perfecting the music. The Peaceful Kings creatively approach songwriting since there is more than one songwriter in the group. You can click this link to watch their short documentary on how they produced The Grand Gesture here--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0doHC-xKagI
“won’t you take my hand my time is coming like the hourglass sand”
Their song Broadway focuses more on the musical and instrumental elements over lyrics which is perfectly fine, it makes you remember the hook and gives you the chance to listen to some great instrumental music. It has some brass elements a steady drum line and soft elements of guitar, rhythm, and lead. Then you get to the song Frances."But I’ll never let these feelings throw me off my vibe, and the only thing I need is you by my side." It's very chill in the beginning and then brings the full band in. You will know why they call themselves the Peaceful Kings when listening to the EP. Their music is smooth and easy to listen to. It’s a great song to be played in the background up a city coffee shop or driving down a long stretch of road with someone next to you. It’s a different vocal style than what you hear on the radio today.
Run a Mile and Highway 65 seemed to be "sister songs" to me. They both had some relation to each other, lyrically and instrumentally. The Peaceful Kings have written The Grand Gesture EP in a way that will be fun for the listener. While there are lyrics like, "I'm just a man with a voice that’s been tainted," you don't feel an overwhelming sadness while listening. It's uplifting and can be thrown into the new "Chill Wave," music playlists. The Peaceful Kings have written music for everyone and not just for themselves which I think is crucial for artists and songwriters alike to do. The songs on this EP are very controlled vocally, no one is pushing to be someone they're not or have a style like everyone else.
Listen to “The Grand Gesture,” here— https://open.spotify.com/album/0Fwkl8WqgYoSRocINz62O4?si=vvJE13tZRSmotDKqxk1N-A
Follow The Peaceful Kings here—