Thursday, May 3, 2018

“Illusions” by Diamond Thug – A Song Review

     “Illusions” has a polished elegance, even in its ingenious use of raw elements. The track from Diamond Thug begins and ends with an engaging, looping riff that was created by “hammering” a €1 coin against the strings of a guitar. Between the two occurrences of the high frequency riff is a Space Rock journey through a melody that is often solemn and through vocals that are sometimes acrobatic.

     The use of the coin to obtain a specific sound is intriguing. Brian May of Queen was known for his use of a sixpence, but it was employed in the same manner as a guitar pick, rather than a “hammer.” Another interesting sound is heard during the chants of “It’s better than.” Is that a jaw harp?

     Diamond Thug is based in Cape Town. So, this is the second feature of a band from South Africa in this week’s posts (after yesterday’s BRYNN). The members of Diamond Thug are Chantel Van T (vocals, keys), Danilo Queiros (bass, production), Adrian Culhane (guitar, synth, backing vocals, production), and Ted Buxton (drums). “Illusions” is a track from the album “Apastron." In an interview with Cape Town’s MyCityByNight, the band described “Illusions” as:
 “[A] very powerful song to us live and it is generally received as a strong song for the crowd too. It’s a bit louder than the rest of our songs, we have big builds and quirky sounds… There are also big shouting choruses with strong bass and crashing drums. It’s as if this song brings the feeling of ‘breaking free from’ something, anything.”

     “Illusions” by Diamond Thug


Lyrics of “Illusions” by Diamond Thug
Break lights
Capture me in this sound
Hold me right
Right under this ground

Strange now
Hearing me out loud
Illusions make this
This harder to tell
Harder to tell

Wake up
Better than your dreaming
Better than this feeling
It’s better than this
Make up
Better than believing
It's better than deceiving
It’s better than

Days in
And days on end
Those days
Have their own friends

Keep in time
And keeping up
With their rhymes
Not sure you can handle the wild
Handle the wild

Wake up, better than your dreaming
Better than this feeling
It’s better than this
Make up
Better than believing
It's better than deceiving
It’s better than
It's better than
It's better than
It's better than

Man, oh man
Today’s one of these
I hissed and resisted
All that came with ease

There are no fixed walls
Within these tumbling
Universal laws
Universal laws

It's better than
It's better than
It's better than
It's better than
It's better than
It's better than


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