Indie Light

Benny Monteux is an Edinburgh based singer/songwriter who makes ‘Pop Punk music for Pop Lovers’ and I’ve previously reviewed and interviewed him before and you can feel free to check those out via the supplied links above.

Richy Neill is a singer/songwriter and guitarist, as well as a member of Richy Neill and the Reinforcements, he is also Edinburgh based and together Benny Monteux and Richy Neill released this Acoustic split EP on the 4th March 2017.

This split EP is made up of four tracks, two by each artist, one old and one new, with the first and second tracks being written and performed by Benny Monteux and the third and fourth being written and performed by Richy Neill.

Just before we move onto the actual review I really want to mention how much I liked the artwork for this split single. It was bright, eye-catching and incredibly well designed. If you also liked it and want to find out more about the artist, Lynda Mathieson, then you can check out either their cargocollective or their wordpress profiles.

‘Teeth and Claws’ is bloody excellent, it made me smile and when a song evokes any reaction surely that’s a good thing….well unless its projectile vomiting but I digress. Maybe I just really like the trombone (and we have Andrew Nicholson to thank for that) but whatever it is that gives this track that special something it has it in spades. Its catchy and is definitely getting added to my regular playlist joining some other tracks from Benny from another review I did.

‘Hold Tight’ from his EP of the same name which launched in 2012 and it opens with the same energy carried on from the previous choice, making it the perfect track to follow it. The songs are different but it’s nice to see that two tracks about five years apart work so well together. We get some more horns in this track as well, and there’s something about it which I really like, maybe because it’s not something you hear every day but it definitely adds to Benny’s mellifluous voice (let’s pretend that I didn’t have to google for words that mean nice sounding)

‘Father’s Words’ is a song that stays with you, almost haunting. It reminds me of the Black Stone Cherry song ‘Things my Father said’ although this is in no way an imitation and it just got to me, it’s one of those songs you could listen to on repeat and just lose yourself in the lyrics and the soft instrumental undertone.

‘Skin and Bones’ is a little slower paced and a little melancholic but and it really resonates with the listener. The parts where Richy Neill and Matt Dunn (backing vocals) harmonise are incredible and I’m really glad that I got the chance to listen to it.

So that’s what I thought of the Acoustic split EP from Benny Monteux and Richy Neill, and if you want to check it out then head on over to Bandcamp. You can find and follow Richy Neill on Twitter. Benny Monteux has removed their social media presence but I strongly suggest you check out their music instead.