Boycrush – Desperate Late Night Energy
(Independent)
Reviewed by Emily Lipsys.
This is the first full album release from New Zealand based artist Alistair Ross Deverick the beats mastermind behind Boycrush. Packed full of chilled beats to get you ready for those relaxed weekends. Deverick can usually be found behind the drumkit as he is firstly a drummer. He plays drums in the band The Ruby Suns, and has also played for the likes of Anika Moa, Neil Finn, and Lawrence Arabia – just to name a few. He is a man of many talents being a multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter. His love of beats fully flows out through his dance orientated pop music – Boycrush. You can tell that rhythm runs through his veins.
Each track (until the last one) features infectious electronic beats combined with different female vocals in amongst. Also after each listen I could hear an underlying influence in some of the beats of a pacific flavour. Cameos featured throughout are by Chealsea Jade, Benny’s Videos and Yumi Zouma. First track starts off with a faint morse code type noise and then builds with more electronics, beats and then female vocals. This track is probably one of the most up-beat on the whole album. A nice way to kick us off.
One of the tracks that really stood out to me on the first few listens of the album was Holy Water. I keep coming back to this one over and over. It has a relaxed groove to it, paired with the beautiful vocals of Chealsea Jade, it is a perfect match for this song. The melody and beat of Make You Feel will have your feet tapping and will end up getting stuck in your head for the rest of the day! It has a cruisey, happy-go-lucky feel to it.
Primitive Squat which is the 8th track out of the full 11 track album, has a depth to it by the way Deverick Builds the beats up and then pairs them back to add colour and interest. The drum feel towards the middle and end has a primal african beat feel to it-surrounded by electronic alien sounds swirling in and out. The last track (title track) Desperate Late Night Energy is the only one that features main male vocals by Deverick himself, with falsetto harmonies over the top. Throughout the middle of this song you can hear a dreamy, flowy guitar floating in and around the vocals and beats. This is also another favourite track, and a strong way to end the album.
If you enjoyed this content, please consider donating towards the running of Ambient Light, covering expenses and allowing us to expand the coverage you love by clicking the red button below or visiting our PressPatron page.