After a critically acclaimed debut full-length album, “Momento Mori,” Chellcy Reitsma returns with another fine piece of sonic artistry that will unquestionably appeal to anyone who appreciates clever songwriting, impressive composing, and superb musical performance. “Carpe Diem” carries everything you ever needed from modern alternative music, plus many more sonic delicacies, gradually unfolding and revealing with each new listen. With a title track, “Chemicals,” and “Happy New Year,” three exceptional standalone singles released earlier this year, and remixes of all three songs that further improve her performance, Chellcy Reitsma pretty much showcases what you might expect from the remainder of this incredible album. However, many other impressive songs are included along the way, vividly demonstrating the brilliance of this artist. Lyrically, Reitsma’s songs are deeply personal experiences, diving deep into various sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances. Therefore, it’s a highly relatable material that will immediately resonate with the audience. Sonically, this clever singer-songwriter blends various approaches, directions, techniques, and styles to depict a lush sonic imagery. Perhaps alternative rock shines in the limelight, as the fundamental elements of this music genre are dominant in the mix, but you’ll unquestionably notice how some of the finest properties of the blues, classic rock, pop rock, indie rock, indie pop, soul, and rhythm and blues found their place in this sonic equation. Her music carries qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, yet she also implemented a subtle touch of nostalgia, evoking mid-nineties and early noughties alternative and indie music, eras when these styles dominated the airwaves the most. This style suits her well, as she delivers one of the finest vocal and sonic performances you’ll hear in recent years. Therefore, these experimentations with various approaches, directions, techniques, and music genres resulted in a comprehensive collection of catchy, memorable, engaging, meaningful, soulful songs that will immediately transport you to another realm.
This epic sonic journey commences with “Chemicals,” a marvelous bluesy pop-rock composition, empowered with subtle touches of Americana and folk. It’s one of those tracks that gradually introduces Chellcy Reitsma’s addictive, hypnotic, irresistible, fascinating sound. “Happy New Year” is coming up next, offering beautiful arpeggiated chord progressions delivered on acoustic guitar and detailed basslines in the beginning. The songs expand with lush keys, jangly chord progressions, and well-accentuated beats, further showcasing Reitsma’s songwriting and composing abilities. Her impressive voice shines here, as she provides more complexity and emotional depth to every segment. “Artist’s Plight” calms things down with its soothing, relaxing, ethereal soundscapes. These are moments where Chellcy Reitsma’s profound, poetic lyricism shines the most, while the tender rock ‘n’ roll notes and percussive accentuations act as a perfect backdrop. The title track brings back energetic beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics, supported with warm, detailed, vividly hearable basslines. The rhythm section serves as a backbone of the track, immensely supporting all those synth leads, themes, melodies, harmonies, and catchy chord progressions and riffs. The artist elevates everything on an entirely new level, commands attention, and leads listeners on an epic voyage through an expansive sonic universe with more soulful, passionate, emotive, and powerful vocal harmonies. It’s a standout track that will immediately end up on your playlist. Reitsma’s deep love for rock ‘n’ roll music is vividly hearable in “Rock ‘n’ Roll Soul,” another standout composition that carries all those fundamental elements of the genre in one place. From impressive guitar works to powerful beats, this composition has everything you ever needed from modern rock ‘n’ roll music. Chellcy Reitsma is one of those singer-songwriters who knows how to deliver honest emotion through beautiful vocal harmonies, and tracks like “Every Time” are the rock-solid proof. Her control over all those low, mid, and high notes is notable here, as she navigates all those calm and powerful segments with such precision and finesse. The same goes for the tracks like “I Ran Away” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Lover,” two compositions that might differ in ambiance, but both showcase Reitsma’s impressive vocal range. This epic sonic journey also carries three remixes of “Chemicals,” “Happy New Year,” and “Carpe Diem.” Compared to the originals, these remixes sound much crisper, cleaner, and powerful, with much more emphasis on the rhythm section and low-end notes. However, you’ll hear how all those guitar works and lush keys also push more to high-end without sounding too commanding. Of course, Chellcy Reitsma’s outstanding vocal performance remains a centerpiece of these compositions, and it seems that her performance sounds even more soulful, passionate, emotive, and powerful here. These remixes are such nice additions and a perfect closure of an epic full-length album.
Once again, Chellcy Reitsma demonstrates why she’s one of the finest singer-songwriters on the contemporary music scene. “Carpe Diem” is a pure masterpiece, a comprehensive collection of wisely written, tastefully composed, and flawlessly performed songs that will not only appeal to alternative, indie, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and singer-songwriter music but anyone who appreciates songs performed straight from the heart. Reitsma poured all her experinece, knowledge, and talent, distilled it into brilliant ideas and marvelous musicianship, and delivered an album that will remain on your playlist for a very long time. You should immediately place “Carpe Diem” on your music radar. The album is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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