2020: what a year to be a touring musician! With some bands opting for the livestreaming route – with varied success – one can’t help wondering what the new year will bring. Will more venues close? Will album and merchandise sales keep bread on the table?
Influence, released on 16 October 2020 by Facedown Records, is the second full-length album by Shane Ochsner’s musical project, Everything In Slow Motion. “Tell me all your feelings love / Put everything on me / The truth is what you say you want / But the truth you won’t believe” – the first lines from “Apollo” – are so heavy, and hold up a mirror not only to the individual’s own biases but to society at large. I’m reminded of how Steven Wilson invites us to observe his characters in that excellent Porcupine Tree album, Fear Of A Blank Planet , and some of that despair permeates Influence too.
The title track, featuring Aaron Stone (lead singer and guitarist of My Epic ) is a fiery rocker. My ear immediately goes to Brian Aubert, lead singer and guitarist of Silversun Pickups . Listen to “The Royal We”, off the grammy-nominated album, Swoon .