You may have heard of guitarist Sophie Burrell or seen her music-based content on social media and YouTube. Whilst I don’t follow her, the algorithms constantly pushes her content to me since I have such music-based feeds. Certainly, if it was based on the quality of her playing, it would be understandable on that basis alone. But it’s more because she’s covered a lot of my favourite bands and songs with acts like Guns N’ Roses, Alter Bridge, Velvet Revolver, Avenged Sevenfold, Slash (solo and Conspirators), etc.
So you’d expect her self-named band to sound in a similar vein, right? Except it’s not. BXRRELL’s debut song “Dare To” is a completely different beast which swings into alternative rock with a pop varnish and bleeding modernity. Essentially, it’s modern rock for a modern and younger audience. Instantly starting with a stomping set of drums with a guitar marching in line with them, there’s dark, grungy tone to it, it’s obvious from hitting the play button this is going to be something different to what you’d expect. However, it’s a welcome difference.
As anger and bitterness coat Burrell’s vocals, she shows she’s got a great set of pipes on her to back up her guitar prowess. There’s a force and heft to her delivery in the chorus as she vents her frustrations. Meanwhile, in the soft delivery of the verses, the borderline whisper has an air of resignation and acceptance to it as it winds around the light and airy melody, hinting at something far darker lurks within.
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Naturally, the draw is in the guitar itself and whilst it may be mired in moody, grungy tones which fights with the pounding drums, the more open soundscapes in the verses help with the pop credentials. However, it’s in the chorus where the song comes alive as the anger bubbles, allowing the full band to come into their own and show what a tight unit they are. And for those who may have been disappointed with the direction Burrell went with her own material, there’s a guitar solo which homages Alter Bridge but never veers into imitation, let alone copying them.
Whilst there’s been several instances of YouTubers trying to branch into music, boxing or some other hustle in the aim to “legitimise them”, Sophie Burrell proves with her self-titled band that she’s in the ranks of Mary Spender and Justin Hawkins – a musician who happens to have a YouTube channel and not a YouTuber who attempts music. “Dare To” is a hell of an opening salvo and if BXRRELL have more songs like this up their sleeves, they’re going to be a band worth keeping a very close eye on.
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“Dare To” is out now
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