Cover Photo by CH Lonestar Promo.
Kody West has been dropping bangers and making quite a name for himself as of late both inside the Texas scene and out. He finally released his newest record Circles, and it is straight up raw rock ‘n’ roll. His voice is made for this kind of music, and he doubles down and proves it beyond measure in this newest release after previewing it through his past few singles. His band is super tight and knows exactly how to create the unique sound that he is now known for.
Starting us off is a single previously released on July of 2021 called “Buried Alive,” which immediately sets the tone with a super catchy opening riff that brings you in right away. There’s a very strong hook that plants itself in your head thanks to the fantastic instrumentation and West’s solid vocal performance. “Out of Time (When You Knew It Was The End)” is up next and begins with an ominous opening and his singing meshing together perfectly. It builds up to a crazy crescendo and we’re off from there with some great songwriting. Following that is another previously released track from July titled “Falling,” which is one of my personal favorites on the record. The drum beat is a solid backbone to the melody, which also contains a chorus that will pull you in and stick with you.
“Ocean” has features an outstanding vocal performance with an excellently-produced wall of sound that is sonically awesome. One of the strongest tracks on the record is “Let You Go,” which was put out back in November of 2021. If there’s any song on here that will make you want to scream along, it’s this one – not to mention the story is well-written and very relatable. Next is “Middle” (aptly named since it’s pretty much the halfway point in the album), a nice slowed-down tune with some guitar picking that is very pleasant to the ear. I really enjoy the cadence in the chorus of “Nightmare,” along with the overall attitude of the song complete with a ripping guitar solo towards the end.
The heavy guitar strokes and chunky drums during the verse of “Wait for You” is killer and serves as a sweet foundation leading up to the hook, making this another super catchy tune. “Clouds” is sonically exquisite – a true rocker. The riffs and songwriting stand out especially in this one. Rounding out the record is last April’s single, the title track “Circles,” which is a fantastic track to finish up the album.
It’s better to listen to the record yourself instead reading my yammering on about it obviously, so please do yourself a favor and check out Kody West’s newest album Circles!