JOEL SARAKULA Vinilo y CD

Review: On his new single 'Pacifico Waves', Joel Sarakula takes the scenic route down a pacific coastline, searching for peace, enlightenment and the perfect sunset. Travelling and searching is nothing new to Sarakula: it's almost his default way of being. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia before swapping oceans to live in the UK and more recently onwards to Gran Canaria: "I've been busy making my islands smaller" he jokes. But the music on 'Pacifico Waves' sounds like none of these places: with its easy drum shuffle, soulful guitar hooks and smooth vocal harmonies it distinctly evokes Southern California. It's such a potent portrait of the West Coast that if not for the contemporary lyrics and some modern production techniques, it could be a long lost hit from an early 80s LA studio band.

Review: 'Midnight Driver’ is the new single from London-based soft-rock, disco, and funk specialist Joel Sarakula. The track is a soft-rock fantasy in which the narrator laments his lover's nocturnal habits; Californian sun-kissed guitars, smooth vocal stylings, and Latin percussion all blend into a cinematic mood (and a great driving song). On the flipside is 'I'm Still Winning', a '70s disco-inspired track on which Sarakula is heard fully immersed in the shady underbelly of casinos and high-stakes gambling. Resembling a defiant riposte from the title character of The Eagles' 'Desperado', Sarakula sings with a vocal channeling '70s icons Boz Scaggs and Ned Doheny.