Alchemystic - Sweet Sorrow Ft Yolande Strauss

Hear The Track Here

Seems like a long, long time since I've heard from our electronic friend Alchemystic. Destiny's Fire Feat JoeK (February 2009) is the last time we encountered him and - as usual - was a really worthwhile listen. The Must Have it snagged was half for the music, and half for the excellent vocals provided by the aforementioned Joe K, who incidentally, I'd never heard before and haven't since. Shame that. Anyway, here's Alchemystic back after almost a year, but unfortunately no longer seems to be on Soundclick - the link will lead you to his own site, where you can download any of his tracks. It looks like most of his output is on there, so at least his music hasn't disappeared, some of his back catalog is well tasty.

Anyway, on to the new...

Sweet Sorrow, as you can see, features yet another new singer to me, this time Yolande Strauss, a female singer from South Africa whose You Tube can be found here. The lyrics coming from Katherine Wong about whom I know nothing and music from the man himself, of which we know too much. Tell you what though, I did a HUGE doubletake when I first heard this, not a trace of electronica in sight. Although he's been branching out (especially with the last three or four tracks) Sweet Sorrow is most definitely the most un-Alchemystic thing I've ever heard him do; and I've heard him do some surprising things. The main reason is because Sweet Sorrow is, plainly and simply, a straightforward, three hankie tearjerker of a power ballad. I think you already know what I think of that particular style and right now I should be on a rant, so why not?

Yolande Strauss is why not. See, first off you have to be able (male or female) to carry off a power ballad to impress a hard-bitten cynic like me, and Yolande does that and more. It doesn't hinder her any that she has more than a passing aural resemblance to Karen Carpenter, both in tone and style and will obviously help people to 'get' her. The music, as is fitting with this style, is tasteful yet simple with the bulk of the burden being carried by a beautifully rendered piano piece, coloured from time to time by equally tasteful strings - and I don't get to write that anywhere near often enough. The real prize here though, even above the class performance is the song. What a beautiful song (and remember I am a hard bitten cynic) and the chorus is one of the best I've heard in a long time. So here's something else I don't get to write often enough...

MUST HAVE Power Ballad.