Honey Ryder's album teaser

British country/rock trio Honey Ryder have distributed their album sampler prior to their album release due this coming summer. With tracks worthy of release such as singles 'Marley's Chains' and 'You Won't Find Me' on the album, the band prove themselves to be a tight, well constructed and matured group. They have a strong grasp of genres including rock, pop and country as well as good songwriting skills and use of strong harmony and melody.

I'm usually quite skeptical of British musicians performing and writing in such an American dominated genre (of country), but the band have done it well and have still managed to incorporate elements of British rock (such as the use of classical strings as opposed to a fiddle in 'World's Way'). With influences including Sheryl Crow, Oasis and The Beatles however, the band was set from the start to include a real mix of musical genres. The result is a soft Corrs combined with Lady Antebellum and Athlete or Keane all fused together.

The track 'Marley's Chains' is my favourite because of its build and typical country sound. With fantastic harmonies and up-beat 12 string acoustic guitar sound, the track really stands out on an otherwise relatively average album. The anthemic opening vocal for the verses really captures the ear of the listener. 'You Cant Say That' is a condense and well co-ordinated song. With typical instrumentation, Shania Twain like fills on guitar amongst the predictable melodies, the build up the chorus is strong whilst the chorus itself is quite catchy.

Aside from perhaps 'World's Way' which includes the occasional catchy vocal line, other tracks 'The Orange Tree' (which sounds like perhaps a rom-com soundtrack) and 'You Wont Find Me' are relatively weak tracks with not as much as direction or perhaps outstanding elements to the song that attract me to buy the album in full on release.

Like Honey Ryder? Then you might like Alabama Shakes for more of a rock feel, for a soloist country rocker then try Marching Donald or for more of an indie vibe then give Ben Howard a go...