Farandicus are a 7-piece soul funk band from Whangarei
combing their different backgrounds to create a unique sound that will get your
soul singing and feet tapping. They have
recently released two new singles Blue Funk and What to Give, and I think
are both songs everyone can relate to – especially their lyrical content. While the music is upbeat and makes me
reminiscent of Summer road trips, house parties and all-night raves the lyrics
are more serious, thought provoking and deeply emotional – especially Blue
Funk, which is a song about Depression.
It was meant to be that I got Blue Funk to review as there has been a lot of posts on my social media accounts about being more transparent and open and honest with Mental Illnesses, which for me was 12 years of Depression. The first verse especially felt like it was written just for me and if I was to try and explain Depression and how it feels it would be very similar to this verse.
This is an important song for NZ because of the high suicide
statistics and the lack of Mental Health funding and support. Suicide has affected everyone I know in the
NZ Music Community and as I write this review I am mourning the loss of a music
brother to suicide. I want to make a
note here that to everyone struggling in the darkness with Depression there IS
a way through! I’m writing this review
sitting on a couch in Belgium where I am staying with a musical brother I met
on the road last year. Never in my
wildest dreams did I think I would make it to Belgium, let alone do half of
what I’ve accomplished since I started to live in the light again since my
years battling Depression! There is
always a way through. This song is
beautiful, soulful and filled with amazing vocal and musical harmonies. This is a song written for anyone who has had
the Black Dog visit and needs to be heard!
The second track What to Give is more upbeat and fun and pokes fun at those pesky door knockers or people in malls that make you feel guilty for not giving them money. One of my pet peeve’s is that they now all have EFTPOS or other means to sign up for direct debit so they old ‘sorry I don’t have any cash’ excuse is null and void these days. This is a conversation I’ve had with many people who feel the same way – if we had the spare cash we would likely already be giving money to these charities. Musically this song is SO YUM! Anyone who knows me well will know that while I spend 90% of my life listening to, promoting and attending Rock and Heavy Metal shows that other 10% of my time is spent indulging in listening to all the other musical genre’s which feed different parts of my soul and this is one of those releases I’ll be keeping in rotation.
Review written by Sarah Sampson