#swirlingeddies | Weathered Music

I have been listening to recorded music as long as I can remember and over the years there have been a few albums that needed time to grow on me, take for example Zoom Daddy by The Swirling Edies. This was their third album and I had enjoyed the previous two so I anticipated another fine listening experience. That didn’t happen. From the opening track, I felt off-put by this recording and left it on the shelf for a couple of years. But then I gave it another listen, and then another and now after repeated listens I really like the album.

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Rex and their new single, ‘Lovers Like We Used To Be’, from their soon to be released EP did not need time to groove a music stream into my life. From the opening with that delicious bass-thumping away and to the lyrics expressed by the vocals of guitarist and lead singer, Jonathan Rex, I was hooked. I did not need time or multiple listens to love this music, I was a victim of Rex immediately.

The music and vocals kept me searching my brain for other artists that Rex sound like, candidates included one of my favourite bands The Call, who are led by the thumping bass of lead singer Michael Been, but I ultimately settled on Rex sounding like Rex. Their sound is built on the vocals and lead guitar of Jonathan Rex who was born with flamenco in his blood, while drummer Nout Kooij was raised as a die-hard punk, and bass player Sara Elzinga was introduced to blues music before she could walk. That is Rex, with their own signature sound.

For their single, Lovers Like We Used To Be, Jonathan Rex says: “It’s a story that happens on a certain night, when you think it’s better to leave a person because all that you have done together is repetitive. You’re left feeling frustrated, but soon realise that it’s your own patterns that causes the friction. When you return, it’s too late and realise you hardly knew her.”

Rex hail from Amsterdam but toured extensively, pre-Covid-19, around Europe and Great Britain. Their second single Palaces features an edgier sound that testifies to this band being more than a one-trick pony. Check them out, they have two singles out, LLWUTB and Palaces, and they have an EP coming soon.

L I S T E N

https://open.spotify.com/track/0yDNFsuhz4lTyJZVTTHwH1