Following the release of his latest single 'Scorpio' featuring Austrian singer Lisa Patscheider, Flex caught up with Irish / Dutch musician, composer, and producer Nicolaas Walle to find out more about what influences his music. If you enjoy Walle's picks be sure to check out 'Scorpio' at the end of the article.
1. Yes - Onward
Yes is a band very close to my heart since my teenage years when I discovered them. They are often known for their complex, progressive songs which I absolutely love, such as the iconic “Roundabout” or the 18-minute epic classic “Close To The Edge”. However, this song is a very simple one, but very beautiful in it’s absolute sincerity of sentiment. The lyrics, written by the late bassist, Chris Squire, are an honest love song sweetly delivered by Jon Anderson’s unusual but melodic alto-tenor voice and lushly illustrated by flourishes of instrumentation from the band. The driving force musically is not blazing percussion but a slowly advancing, rhythmically humble bass line and a repeating guitar arpeggio. It is a break from the searing prog showmanship typical of much of Yes’ catalog, in favour of expressing something delicate and just sweet and nice.
2. Knower - It’s All Nothing Until It’s Everything
Knower is a band of mainly Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi. Their style is very Jazz in that it blends Chaos and Beauty and makes structure out of complexity, however they have a very playful, modern, tongue-in-cheek edge that I appreciate. This song for me is a build up of tension and chaotic lyrics leading to one of the most explosive, beautiful, joyous-sounding choruses where everything suddenly seems to make sense and have direction. The piano solo that ensues towards the end is an absolute eruption of crazy, frantic, melodic, emotional playing that blows me away. It has a sense of urgency and importance and importantly, it’s fun.
3. Pond - Sweep Me Off My Feet
I like a lot of neo-psychedelic Australian music stylistically. This song is anthemic. I’d find it hard to skip past if it were to come by on shuffle. The synth bass line and punchy production drive the ultra-catchy chorus very strongly. It’s a relatable sentiment to be lonely in the modern world, and to long for connection, and it’s also very fun and cathartic to sing “Someooooone sweep me off my feet”.
4. King Crimson - Islands
Another band that blends chaos and beauty expertly is King Crimson. This song is an example of the more “Beauty”-oriented side of their double-edged sword. It’s a lamenting song once more touching on themes of loneliness, but also the fact that we are all connected on a very deep, often unseen level, much like islands separated by streams. The arrangement is for the most part sparse, the production raw and unpolished, but the sentiment strong. Eventually, the song fades from a very lonely-sounding song with poetic
lyrics to a more triumphant, warm, full, together-sounding jam, which goes on quite some time after the lyrics have gone.
5. Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (Live)
The more Peter Gabriel’s voice ages, the more characterful it becomes. One of my favourite male singers and generally forces in the music world is Peter Gabriel, original singer of Genesis and a massively creative, experimental, and paradoxically, successful, solo artist and performer. This song is, according to Gabriel himself, a love song that could be to a person, or to God or a higher power. The original studio recording of this song on his 1986 album “So” captivated me when I first heard it with it’s production and fusion of pristine 80s pop production and warm, passionate African music elements, however, the extended version played live is really magical. It allows everything to breathe and sing and the performance by Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour is astonishing. The song just gets a spirit of total celebration, becoming a real performance. It also gets a nice, soft introduction section and a triumphant, anthemic end section that don’t feature on the “So” studio recording. Pure sunshine.
Listen to Nicolaas Walle 'Scorpio'
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