“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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diamondthugSA/

Website: http://www.diamondthug.com/

Bandcamp: https://diamondthug.bandcamp.com/

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