Rexford

Independent Spotlight is a continuing series on Stewart’s blog. The series revolves around independent artists and bands sending their music to Brett to review. No band is promised a positive review, and all music is reviewed honestly in an effort to better independent music.

In this review I’ll be taking a look at the band Rexford and their new EP,’Good Lie.’ The three piece band is one of the more interesting acts I’ve looked at in recent memory, combining a pop influence with hints of soul and other indie music to craft a rather original sound. First, though, let’s check out some info on the band.

Rexford consists of vocalist Matthew Hashimoto, keyboardist Floris Boere, and drummer Derek Nelson. The New York-based band’s lack of a guitarist was immediately intriguing to me, however, since a modern lineup without one is increasingly rare. They perform all of the synthesized instrumentation live as well, which is certainly a compelling way to attack live performance.

‘Good Lie’ is an EP that is exceptionally produced. The musicians sync together incredibly well in the musical soundscape and the mix sounds like its straight out of a professional, high end studio. That’s always a huge selling point for an independent act since the scene is often plagued with poor self-production efforts.

Now, a band that centralizes around synthesizers runs the risk of sounding overproduced. Rexford manages this space well, however, and it doesn’t feel overproduced at all. In fact, you get so lost in the mixes that you forget you’re just listening to three guys - they emanate the illusion of a much larger, more complex act.

Musically, the songs are top notch. The title track introduces you to Rexford in an epic fashion with incredibly catchy choruses, beautiful verses, and an irresistibly lovable synthesizer lead. ‘Don’t Look Back’ captures a more soulful persona on the part of Hashimoto, making it a stark contrast to the title track. It works, though, and Boere plays off of Hashimoto’s vocals beautifully.

‘Space Parfait’ boasts an intriguingly different spoken word introduction followed by the strongest vocal performance of the record. For a pop-based group, the lyrics are surprisingly excellent. ‘Anthem’ feels like the weaker of the five tracks with a slightly stereotypical chorus and droning nature, but with that said, the weakest of five powerful tracks isn’t anything to be concerned about.

The album finishes up with ‘Yes, Virginia.’ Boere’s piano is exhilarating on this song, crafting the most magnificent sound space of the record. When Nelson drops in, the song comes full circle, managing the perfect balance between soul and pop.

I don’t normally add music that I get asked to review to my own personal playlist. With ‘Good Lie,’ however, two or three of these tracks are getting thrown into my regular rotation. These songs are truly beautiful pop music. I have the tendency to harp on modern pop artists and hammer them for unoriginal music, overly produced tracks, and stereotypical lyrics. Rexford is the shelter from the storm for me, proving to me that pop music isn’t dead, it’s just sleeping. Rexford is the right band to wake it up. - Tilting Windmill Studios

NYC pop band Rexford was founded as a songwriting trio late in 2012. After the split of a bigger group, Matthew, Derek and Floris started to work together in an effort to “just write good songs.” Soon they had enough material to start playing live and from mid-2013 they have been performing regularly in and around the city.

If you love amazing music and appreciate great writing, great playing and great singing – the latest Rexford EP, “Good Lie”, is for you. Every inch of the music is superb – the drums by Derek Nelson, Keyboards and Production by Floris Boere and the Vocals by Matthew Hashimoto. Everything is just right! Their songs have depth. Through all the lyrics and singing, you definitely get a vivid sense of the storytelling and emotion.

The music is motivating, uplifting, inspiring, I consider this EP to be extremely ‘visual’. Matthew Hashimoto describes every inch, every feeling, of each song’s emotional inclination. The impact I received on first listening to Matthew was the same I had on first hearing Adam Levine (Maroon 5) and Jason Mraz; a voice so crystal clear and perfectly resonant that it is able to pierce even the tiniest places of your heart.

To be honest, for me, even Rexford’s overall sound sits somewhere between early Maroon5 and Mraz with a strong flavor of Simply Red, in that it is catchy, trendsetting and almost hypnotizing; with great melodies and hooks, and extremely well written choruses. Yet at the same time their music displays an impressive depth and profound intensity not often associated with pure pop. In fact the band themselves aptly define their genre between Pop, Soul and Indie.

The opening 2 songs on the Ep, the title track “Good Lie” and “Don’t’ Look Back” are worth the price of the Ep alone. Especially, “Don’t Look Back” – a song which I can only imagine somewhere very, very high up on the Billboard Charts. Rexford’s songwriting, performing talents and emotions truly explode through the vocals and musical accompaniment on this track.

Rexford’s music is particularly nuanced, colorful and expressive with lyrics that make you ponder and feel things on a deep and personal level, hence you will be immediately pulled in by the beautiful piano-driven “Yes, Virginia”, which is also the EP’s closing track. In-between you’ll discover another 2 extremely likeable tracks in “Space Parfait” and “Anthem”. Rexford have certainly made a near-perfect EP here.

Usually when you’re looking through reviews online there are so many mixed messages you find yourself wondering who to actually listen to. Without a doubt Rexford is definitely a band that you’ll need to listen to. The talent is literally dripping off these guys. Their music is vibrant, the lyrics are excellent, and the vocals superb, Rexford are simply a class act! - Jamsphere.com

Guys, please check out this new single entitled “”Ship We Sank” by Rexford, a pop band from New York City. Oh boy, do I love this song definitely yes. Those this single deserve to spread out absolutely.

I’d be damn if I did not share this beautiful sound of music to you guys. Be sure to take the time to listen, you guys going to love it.

We approved Rexford!

Check out their Social Media:

https://twitter.com/FromRexford
http://iconosquare.com/tag/rexfordmusic
https://www.facebook.com/rexfordmusic
http://www.rexfordmusic.com/ - I AM PR Agency