“Between Lightning and Thunder” is the latest full-length release by Miles East, a New York City-based singer-songwriter. It’s his second full-length album, promoted with outstanding compositions such as “Better Than Here,” “Lucky To Be Here Tonight,” and “All Hands On Deck.” For those stumbling upon this profoundly creative artist for the first time, Miles East combines a singer-songwriter approach with many different but complementary music genres. Perhaps acoustic rock comes to mind first, but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon Americana, power pop, psych pop, indie pop, indie rock, and soft rock elements along the way. “Between Lightning and Thunder” resonates will all these elements, but Miles East implemented all of them depending on the mood and ambiance of these songs. Therefore, this marvelous material will appeal to anyone looking for perfectly assembled and flawlessly performed music where the experience, knowledge, talent, and skills of an artist shine during each segment.
The album commences with “Better Than Here,” a calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal masterpiece that vividly showcases all the brilliance of the artist. As soon as you press play, you’ll notice how Miley East’s impressive vocal range serves as a centerpiece, emphasizing all the segments and instrumentations. In the meantime, the interplay between rhythm and lead guitar shapes an adequate backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll notice how mesmerizing chord progressions resonate on one side while the other shines with themes, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers. The rock-solid rhythm section propels this song to new heights with vividly hearable, warm-sounding low-ends and excellent, half-time, well-accentuated rhythmic patterns. It’s a marvelous opener worth revisiting anytime, and there’s no surprise why Miles East decided to use this song as the first single.
“All Hands On Deck” immediately delivers a magnificent Americana-inspired ambiance, achieved by stacking reverby, semi-distorted themes and accentuations, catchy acoustic chord progressions, equally intricate basslines, and beats. As usual, Miles East’s vocals command attention and guide the listening apparatus on this ear-appealing voyage. This composition paves the way for the remainder of the album, which unquestionably carries many incredible songs. “Lying Down” is another excellent ballad where folk-rock, indie folk, Americana, and singer-songwriter sound shines through. At first, you’ll notice stipped-down chord progressions and vocal performance, but East gradually introduces the remaining instrumentations, hearable on previous songs. You’ll also notice how some elements of power pop, classic pop, and indie pop resonate during particular moments, so “Lying Down” will unquestionably appeal to the broader auditorium.
“It’s Ours To Lose” continues at the same place, diving even deeper into Americana and folk music. These genres perfectly match Miles East’s incredible vocal range, as he seamlessly glides over low, mid, and high notes with such precision and finesse. Like the previous track, “It’s Ours To Lose” also carries power pop, classic pop, and indie pop elements, but it’s a more stripped-down ballad where acoustic guitar and vocal performance shine the most. “Lucky To Be Here Tonight” is another standout of this exceptional full-length release. This track explores the power pop realm with its calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal chord progressions, hypnotic melodies, harmonies, themes, warm-sounding basslines, moderate yet intricate beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. With this particular composition, East showcases his knack for writing, composing, arranging, and producing meaningful power pop songs where every element enhances the listening experience to the max.
“For A Sky Of Crimson” is another beautiful number where the soft rock, power pop, and indie folk elements harmoniously collide. You’ll notice how retro and modern music scenes inspired Miles East to assemble such a ear-appealing piece where each instrument plays a significant role in building a cathartic listening experience. The artist returns to Americana and folk realm with “Circling The Drain.” You’ll hear how East incorporated some of the best ideas and orchestrations, showcasing his admiration for the folk-rock genre. Still, there’s a vividly hearable presence of classic rock, subtly implemented into the song’s core. Each instrument sounds stunning, with catchy chord progressions being the most dominant ones besides East’s impressive vocal performance. Miles East calms things even more with “Between Lightning and Thunder,” a standout track that might be the best ballad on this material. The calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal ambiance achieved with many guitar layers drenched in the studio reverb serves as a perfect backdrop for Miles East’s magnificent vocal deliverance. The song continuously levitates between classic rock, indie folk, and classic pop, such a unique blend that works like a charm.
The artist goes even deeper into the classic pop with “Song Of Hope,” another standout track thanks to East’s songwriting and composing abilities. The guitar interplays on this one sound divine, as Miles East fully stacked it with cleverly arranged chord progressions and reverby melodies, harmonies, and accentuations. The moderate tempo works to the advantage of the song, while another dosage of otherworldy vocal harmonies spice things up. “Between Lightning and Thunder” closes with “All I Need,” a perfect closing number. It’s another ballad that unquestionably suits as a closing track with its reverby, arpeggiated chord progressions and East’s divine vocal harmonies. This material shines with many brilliant moments where Miles East’s experience, knowledge, skills, talent, ideas, and musicianship shine in the limelight. His ability to blend so many music genres into a cohesive whole goes beyond comprehension so many times throughout the entire album. “Between Lightning and Thunder” is a masterpiece that deserves your utmost attention, and it will undoubtedly appeal to anyone with mesmerizing, ethereal, flawlessly composed and performed music. “Between Lightning and Thunder” is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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