The Looking Glass, Bijon Freece

Bijon Freece is a local MeloDramatic Pop band made up of Richard Martin (Vocals/Guitar), Tom Burgoyne (Drums/Backing Vocals) and Karl Kelly (Bass Guitar). They released their latest single 'The Looking Glass' this month, and here's what EXPOSED's Alice Stride thought of it…
 
I don’t know what to make of this latest track from Bijon Freece. It begins well – I like the atmospheric twanging of the guitars and the languid tones of lead singer Richard Martin’s voice – but soon descends into chaos, and not in a good way.
 
The lyrics are peppered with tired clichés (for example, “you run around like headless chickens” and “you made your bed, so lie in it”), making for a bloody dull listen.
 
After the slow opening, it moves into an instrumental bridge which is far too long and could belong to any indie band from the last seven years. Martin’s voice sounds good when he sings slowly, but the jerky rhythm which dominates most of the track means that his vocals fail to shine.
 
It ends abruptly and left me confused; Bijon Freece’s sound is not experimental enough to get away with leaving the listener in a muddle. That said, it’s an energetic song and I imagine it’s better live than it is recorded. The band describes their sound as ‘MeloDramatic Pop’; this doesn’t work for them yet. When they’ve got a better grasp of what this genre means to them, I’m sure their music will improve.
 
Alice Stride