Fire Fences - Roses From Dust

Fire Fences

Roses From Dust
self-released; 2014

3.4 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Hailing from Wales, Fire Fences are a four-piece that just released their debut EP entitled Roses From Dust. The band is young, really young. They range in age from 16 to 19. That being said they are already writing songs that sound well beyond their years. The lyrical content deal with mature subjects and the music is well written.

The biggest detriment and the advantage the band has is the same exact thing. Make no doubt about it this is extremely accessible top 40 acoustic/rock. The moment you hear it you will notice similarities in the vocal delivery and song structure to a copious amount of bands surfacing right now on the mainstream. At this point even though the band is clearly talented they may have a hard time breaking through due to the ample amount of competition out there right now that is producing very similar sounding music. Some of the music rides too close to sounding like a commercial pop for my liking but there are a number of moments that clearly point to some creative output.

Aaron Wyn Nicholas is the lead singer and whether you dig this type of music or not it is hard to deny that he has an aesthetically pleasing voice. It’s especially evident on the opener “Next Page.” The song opens with an acoustic guitar and vocals. As it progresses orchestral strings are added and it is here that the song reaches its finest moments. It ends up rocking out with distorted electric guitars but it felt a bit predictable. The song would have benefitted from building off the serene, nostalgic atmosphere they built rather than throwing it away early on to be replaced by a more intense but not as effective standard rock formation.

“Hurricane” gets a lot of things right. The guitar playing is slick and the music has some resemblance to the band Phoenix. I was digging the upbeat vibe. The song isn’t perfect but well written and executed well. “Thirsty Heart” isn’t too shabby either. The band goes with a singer/songwriter type vibe here and strips it back to vocals, acoustic guitar and atmospheric elements. I was happy that the band didn’t try too hard to rock this song out.

While not my favorite song of the four, he closer “Nobody Home” has the bass driven verse and the most rocking chorus on the EP. The slickest part of the song is right after the chorus where the band sounds funky and fun.

Regardless of the members’ ages this is an impressive EP. As solid as this is, they still need to find what will separate them from the masses of bands who sound like them. Overall, job well done but also a case of wait and see. 

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