There’s no surprise Australia is bursting at the seams with talented bands and artists – we all see it every day on Happy! But what’s even more incredible is when up and coming musicians have the ability to not only write and perform quality music, but have the technical sensibilities to produce music too; Victorian five-piece Sagamore fall into this category of being musically and technically talented. The band has recently presented their sophomore release Longer – a collection of soulful pop music for everyday listening.
Apart from featuring killer music, what’s just as impressive is the fact the entirety of the EP was produced by the band themselves and mixed by guitarist Casey Hartnett. This may not seem like much, but after listening to the high quality of each song it’s hard to not admire their work.
Sagamore have returned with their stellar EP Longer, an effort that sees the band craft a soulful evolution of their melodic sound.
Longer kicks off with the carefree tune that is Iodine. Characterised by hazy reverb and effortless crooning (“Iodine, I was just a fool for your love…”), this song is a real standout. It maintains the same laid-back east coast vibes we usually experience from Australian indie acts but plays more towards blues than pop. In addition, Sagamore has recently released a killer, somewhat artsy, black and white video which was premiered right here on Happy!
Next up is the debut single Feelings, which gave fans a teaser of what to expect from this EP when it was released earlier this year in June. Feelings takes the easy listening route and slowly builds up to the slightest bit of country rock. Twanging guitars and the paired male-female harmonies make for a Fleetwood Mac inspired sound, and the added touch of a harmonica compliments the rest of the arrangement so well.
Track three You Can Take Me My Love is the classic declaration of love we see so often on releases – probably because what better way to pull your significant other than with the glory of being a musician. Composed so smoothly, this song features mellow rhythms and the ever cool vocals: “Honey I’ll follow gladly,/ Take me easy as you go./ Oh you can take all my loving…” Around the 2.30 mark is pure bliss to any guitar lovers ears as the blend of one deep toned guitar meets another of the same twanging nature we heard earlier in a lovely instrumental solo. This winds down to the songs completion but the melody will ring in your head hours later.
Only Fools seems like the melancholy counterpart to You Can Take Me My Love, as a story of lost love is recounted: “Everything I love/ Just fades away.” The chords meander through a blues/roots setting, with crooning vocals tugging on your heartstrings. Production wise, this song is clean and nicely highlights each chord.
And so the EP comes to an end with breezy title track Longer. Although it doesn’t quite have the same blues or country feel that some of the previous songs do, Longer still reinforces the sound Sagamore have grown into with this release; it maintains the effortless summery melodies and soulful vocals that characterises the Longer EP. This song is well-rounded and neatly wraps up what has been an incredible achievement for Sagamore.
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