Album Review: Don’t Be So Nice

Rose Blake, Mike Isaacs and Scott Maynard are the creators of Pales.

The trio have brought their array of skills and broad musical backgrounds to create arrangements heavily sounding of emotive folk.

A song that really stood out to me was the second tract in the album, Black Lung. Rhythmic drumming, layering of guitars combined with enchanting harmonies make this song hypnotic to the ear. The layering of vocals are beautiful also and really add calming qualities to this song.

Up It Goes I believe also deserves a mention. One of the more up tempo songs on the album, the soft beat and layered guitar leads you to a chorus that has a gorgeous melody and beautiful backing from Rose. This song is rich in texture and tempo, with it varying and changing throughout. It has a multitude of layers that is a delight to hear. This was my favourite track on the album, and I only wish there were more songs on this album that were more upbeat.

Don’t Be So Nice was another song I think deserved a mention, and is the song the album is named after. The intro to this song is beautiful, consisting of guitar plucking and electric guitar chords, followed by vocal harmonies. This is an emotional song and what I loved about it was that Pales have allowed much room for vocals. The sung words were accompanied by minimalist instruments that really allowed the emotion and meaning to seep through. 

Pales’ album is one constructed of beautifully created songs full of emotion and stunning harmonies. My only critiques are that I wished there was more of a range in the tempo of songs, with some of the tracks being to sombre for my ears, however, with that being said, Pales should be proud of their album, and if any folk genre fans are interested, their album gets released on the 6^th of May, so go check it out!