[Review] The Struggle by Steve Daigneault “beautifully unique and cleverly creative”

The gradually rising intensity of this release features an interesting set up. The sound is somehow smooth yet epic at first, fusing a simple, gentle piano part, with a distorted guitar, and a snippet of heaviness and drama by means of these drums and symbols shimmering in the distance. As it builds further, the theatrical and emotional intensity continues to grow, the instrumentation gets louder and more manic, but rather than seeking to impress with musical ability, it all feeds well into a particular story line.

You can clearly hear the moment the mood changes, there’s a suddenly quite bright aura to the piece, and there’s a lot more space surrounding each moment than the opening few bars perhaps imply. What unfolds is something beautifully unique and cleverly creative. There’s undeniably a pattern to the progression, a concept in mind, an artistic framing of certain feelings and experiences. The switch from the distorted guitar sound to the piano is refreshing to hear, and there are numerous riffs included which, however simple they may be, add a further touch of character and a moment of deep thought.

You can appreciate the musicality of the track in a way that suggest a live performance would be quite mesmerising. You can also completely forget about the intricate details of the performance and simply lose yourself to the soundscape. In either case, nothing about the experience lets you down, and at over eight minutes long there’s plenty of time to find your own ideas within the soundscape and escape entirely to those thoughts and images. The music is beautiful – gentle on occasion, always changing, always evolving, never predictable. There’s a touch of darkness on occasion, a touch of manic energy to contrast effectively with the softer moments, and all of this works brilliantly.

By Rebecca Cullen

Rebecca is a Musician and writer from Manchester, UK, with an MA in Song Writing