Roddan – ‘Bleed 432’

Singer songwriter Roddan, from Seattle Washington, released his album, ‘Bleed 432’ earlier this year, six original songs which cross between folk, Americana, blues, rock, and alt-country.

The follow up to his debut last year, ‘Music House’, which he recorded in Austin, Texas, ‘Bleed 432’ is testament to Roddan’s talents, which saw him as a semi-finalist in the 2016 International Songwriting Contest.

Roddan started out as a lead guitarist, performing for several years with other artists around the Pacific Northwest, before deciding to strike out and write and sing his own, often very personal songs.

Each track on ‘Bleed 432’ is essentially a duet between Roddan and a female vocalist, and opens with ‘Never Meant To Be’, a strings-led track, with beautiful harmonies. The sound continues through ‘Exit 38’, which could easily have been sung by Neil Young. Title track ‘Bleed’, reflects his influences which include the likes of Steve Earle, Townes Van Zant, and Bruce Hornsby – the slow drawling vocals echoing the smooth and sweet violin.

‘Patty Jean’, the fourth track, works well with the interplay between Roddan and his female vocalist, the harmonies are exceptional and evoke a sadness which is only added to by the violin.

‘Love Horses’, song number 5, opens up like the beginning of ‘Jack And Diane’ by John Mellencamp, but continues with a sound like Bruce Springsteen, another of Roddan’s inspirations.

Final track, ‘Rock My Reggae Bone’ is a complete surprise and a total departure from the sound of the rest of the album, but nonetheless still has its place. The track does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s both reggae and rock, while retaining the strong lyrics and male/female vocals, combined with some hooky electric guitar licks.

‘Bleed 432’ is available on Apple Music, CD Baby, and Spotify. You can find Roddan online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com

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