Convey – Speed Dial
Convey – Speed Dial – EP Review
Couldn’t have been more excited to see this one coming up on my playlist! Convey has easily had one of the best and most entertaining tracks I’ve heard this year with “Speed Dial,” which we’ve reviewed earlier with glowing, well-earned remarks. You might have also heard their chosen lead-single on the SBS Podcast…because ever since I heard Convey and “Speed Dial” I really haven’t been able to get enough of it! I want this song for breakfast, lunch and dinner – and now I find out that they’ve gone and built an entire EP around it?
That’s like…my definition of JOY right there.
They’ve already impressed me with the opening of the EP, as noted, “Speed Dial” starts out their record with a powerful explosion of energy…again, without a doubt one of the best tunes I’ve heard this year and a fantastic gateway-song into the rest of what they’ve created. I’ve spent an incredible amount of time already romancing that song…it’s what lay beyond that on the Speed Dial EP that interests me even more this time around…like a gift I get to open with my ears. Convey didn’t disappoint for a solitary second of what followed the opening title-tune/lead-single – this EP is KILLER and every bit of my enthusiasm/support for this band is vibrantly justified with the other incredible six tracks that accompany its main single.
I expected this to be great…and this was so far beyond expectation I can’t even begin to explain, but I’ll try…
“Night Sky” sounded like instant validation as far as my ears were concerned. The verse of this track already started them off clearly in the right direction…but the chorus of this cut absolutely POUNDS. Loving the contrasting energy in the music you’ll find on this track and within the confines of the album – the vocals are smooth & sweet while the instruments continue to bring the thunder. So much love for this band! Convey absolutely controls their sound and commands their every move with precise, confident-authority – “Night Sky” builds into a true epic and completely rattles your bones when it hits its peak. Great bass-lines continue to make themselves known – but I gotta say, the added brightness to the dark sound I was expected was a completely welcome surprise. “Night Sky” has a wicked progression that leads them towards a more defined alternative sound and highlights the real genius in this band’s writing. LISTEN to the subtle guitar-work and how intricate it gets at time…LISTEN to the way this band flips the switch! Absolutely loved “Night Sky” – killer vocals, killer playing…seriously exceptional writing.
How about the invitational sound and groove that starts out “Nothing But A Love Song” though? C’mon…be honest with yourself…you haven’t heard a more inviting start to a rock-song of any kind as strong as this one this year. The progressions and writing of Convey truly shine and set themselves apart from the rest out there in similar genres…the way this band grows and evolves a sound, mood & atmosphere in a song is recognizably-awesome and completely noteworthy. They play nothing ‘safe’ – they’ve clearly written their songs to challenge themselves as musicians and in search of complex-but-accessible sounds that are identifiable to their own signature-style. Believe me…Convey has got one! I’d be able to recognize a track from these guys if I was in a coma…I’d snap out of it just to give a thumbs-up, mumble ‘Convey’ in recognition/appreciation and probably slip right back into the fog…but in any state of mind, you can recognize these guys through their monumental sound. If anything…as much as I like the guitars in “Nothing But A Love Song,” I might have brought them into the music closer by bringing them down just a touch in volume in the chorus…but honestly, I’m splitting hairs at that point…it’s more than fine as it stands and has powerful hooks in all the right places…these guys really don’t make mistakes. I’d blame my own ears before I questioned the decisions Convey makes.
“Downpour” has a solid hypnotic rhythm and vibe to it…incredible drum beats and low-end rumble to this cut, great pacing and complex in design. You notice the lyrics and the insightfully-poetic nature they contain and have contained throughout this EP. The vocal-flows on this record are purely stunning and absolutely extraordinary…the instincts in the writing and the insightful way that these songs and this record is put together should be INSPIRING to all that listen. I hear music like this and it’s completely rewarding…listening to a band that’s right in-tune with where they want to be and absorbed into the moment like Convey gets is completely uplifting. LISTEN to the way they pound out the end of “Downpour” while still making the melody completely prevalent…power & melody, perfectly combined. Love the vocals in this band…some of the best I’ve heard in the indie OR mainstream in a long time. Like, check out the beginning of “Red Tape” – dude sounds like a modern-day Robert Plant! Extraordinary pulse and grind to “Red Tape,” although the beat and groove of it all are different, the verse makes the Zeppelin-reference even more justified as they stomp their way to glory. The breakdown of this tune is absolutely one of the best moments on this entire EP…Convey heightens the anticipation before they come back to the most explosive chorus that lines the record. “Red Tape” SLAYS through the guitar-work and main-riffs and absolutely punches-up that chorus-hook in seriously intense and aggressive ways that WORK. Confidence is something you can really hear in music…and it comes from both knowing your sound and knowing your material…and there just isn’t a band that’s firing on confident-levels like Convey is out there in the scene right now – this band is 100% ready for the next-level and beyond…”Red Tape” was all the proof I needed.
I think they made “Sharks” just to mess with the funk-bands out there and show that Convey possesses the talent to dip into any genre and make a masterpiece. With a quick pace, rad lines from bass, drums and guitars all adding to the intensity and groove – Convey finds a tone of distortion I feel like I’ve only heard live and never really heard on a record before – and I LOVE it! What a sound those guitars have in the chorus-crunch of “Sharks” – that is a seriously impressive sound/recording. The chorus of “Sharks” is like getting tossed into the water with a whole school of’em waiting for you & thrashing around – it has a wickedly controlled sound built on chaos, mayhem and madness. Great ideas in the latter-half of the tune as well as the guitars smooth out their sound and Convey heads storming to the end with punched-up authority on “Sharks.”
“Neon” unsurprisingly, becomes the epic ending that the Speed Dial EP needed to finish itself off in style. Hard-hitting, complex-timing and absolutely KEY bass-lines, “Neon” thumps, shakes and rattles your bones right to the very end. The complex compositions and structures from Convey are completely anchored by their accessibility and make for rock-solid listening that I think a monumental-amount of people out there will truly enjoy and keep on their playlists for years. After all is said & done & listened-to…there’s no such thing as a ‘fault’ of any kind on the Speed Dial EP – Convey put in the work, the effort, the time, the writing…it’s all here. “Neon” and its incorporation of piano & additional elements floating through the atmosphere of the mix brought my enthusiasm for this record right to the maximum amount of love and support I can possibly express – this band left NOTHING on the table, no stone unturned and they mined & explored their ideas for everything they possibly had to offer. I absolutely fail to understand what more could possibly be asked for – the Speed Dial EP hits the mark dead-on…Convey is easily one of the best new sounds in rock you’ll hear out in the world right now.
Seriously. They killed it. Mind-blown.
Find out more about Convey at their official page at: http://www.conveyofficial.com/
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