EP Review: 'The Apartment Diaries' - City of Sound

Energetic.

Electric.

Empowering.

In a world so often littered with hate, City of Sound are the sort of band that we need more of.

Don't get me wrong, there's always a time and a place for sad songs but the need for uplifting anthems should always be greater. With a motto of 'love over fear', the LA based indie band are perfect candidates to help fill this ever-growing need for positivity and The Apartment Diaries EP (a demo EP which is, staggeringly, available absolutely free on their website) cements their position as a very exciting unsigned act.

The trio (comprised of Jordan Wright (vocals/piano), Andrew Leigh (guitar) and Lacey Ammar (violin)) come out all guns blazing. They put their hearts out there on all six tracks.

I don't know the guys' own intentions behind each track, so I'll present to you what I took from them.

Opening track 'Afterglow' opens with a beautiful piano before crashing guitars cut in, on a track that's about inner strength, about leaving a legacy. It's a beautiful anthem. Anthem is a word that you could attribute to all the tracks on this EP. All songs have purpose here: 'Wake Up' takes a stance against oppression, 'Animus' is about chasing your dreams and not giving up, and 'Wasteland' tells of an apparent strive for betterance.

Track 'The Show' seems to be about the nerves and the thrills of playing to a crowd - or it could easily be more: a wider metaphor about life, about putting yourself out there in front of others. That's the beauty with this collection of tracks - it's packed full of meaning and it will resonate with almost anyone.

It's hard to choose just one favorite track but if I absolutely had to, it would be 'I For One'. With rousing choruses, haunting keys and powerful vocals singing equally as powerful lyrics ('I for one, well I for one, I stand in the mind of a maker out here/brace for the sun, see comets run') this track deserves to be played to packed out arenas.

You're losing nothing by going and downloading a copy of this EP so go, go give it a listen. This is a very special collection of tracks that some people out there will absolutely need in their lives. Music changes lives - I can't help but feel that guys will too, if they haven't already.

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For more information about City of Sound (and to download this EP free of charge), visit thecityofsoundmusic.com.  

The EP is also available to purchase via iTunes and to stream via Spotify if you wish to go the extra mile and support them further - if you can, please do and help support indie music.