Phil Mitchell Band - A Better World
Phil Mitchell Band is an Indie Rock group helmed by composer Phil Mitchell, a native of Chicago. The group has a very distinct sound and Phil Mitchell himself has experience writing music across many genres including Jazz, Classical, R&B, Rock, Blues, and Country Today we dive into five songs from A Better World, “Irish Rose” the title track “A Better World”, and “Glory Train”.
“Irish Rose” opens with piano and guitar, further expanding with violin shortly thereafter, giving the track a lot of vibrancy from the outset. This instrumental piece is consistently ear pleasing throughout the song’s duration, truly giving off a distinctive and enjoyable atmosphere. Something truly unique about “Irish Rose” is that it does not feature any vocals until the two minute and fifty-second mark, though once the vocals kick in they have a strong Irish resonance. Overall, “Irish Rose” really captures a lot of the kind of energy you hear in Irish music and I believe the song truly does its name justice.
“A Better World” begins with an a folksy acoustic guitar and retains a great deal of a folk vibe throughout its duration. The track features a storytelling approach to its lyrics, further strengthening its folk-filled vibe; “A Better World” features a message about finding a better world, a universally relatable message that so many of us long for and I feel like this track is especially relevant and poignant. now during the COVID-19 pandemic. Solid instrumental choices - including a splendid piano solo - and intelligent melodic choices tie the song together well and make me envision this song as a crowd pleaser in a live setting; it is a truly enjoyable song and a fun one to sing along to.
“Glory Train” does an excellent job of capturing a theme - to the point of featuring a sample of a train at the start of the song. In terms of rhythm, the song truly sounds like a train at speed at certain points; the bass in the instrumental track stood out to me as especially prevalent and did a wonderful job of driving the track forward while helping to flesh out both the slower and more speedy portions of the song. “Glory Train” also presents some elements of worship music, with a lot of the track’s energy resonating with a similar brightness to that of worship music. This track had a varied approach that made it a wonderful one to come back to, just so see what I could catch on each subsequent listen.
“Blessed is the Light” is another track with worship music inspiration, though the atmosphere presented by this song is completely different than that of “Glory Train”. This track features female lead vocals, contrasting from the first three tracks we are covering today and I believe this choice works out very well; the vocalist really breathes such a unique and passionate light into the song, truly a powerful performance. An aggressive electric guitar solo starting at the two minute and three-second mark absolutely steals the show, marking one of my favorite parts of the entire album.
“The World is a Beautiful Place” is a song about how the world is beautiful - even if we cannot always see it - and I find this message to be an important one that is well-articulated through this track’s lyrics. This song features a very jazzy approach in the instrumental, with bass and guitar that really match that style well with strong performances. Of all of the songs on the album, I believe “The World is a Beautiful Place” is the most balanced in its approach, with each instrument, the vocals and lyrics all coming together on equal ground to make a stellar song with a great message.
These five songs are just a few of the great songs on Phil Mitchell Band’s A Better World and I encourage you to check out all of the tracks from the album, including those not featured here. That said, all three of “Irish Rose”, “A Better World”, “Blessed is the Light”, “The World is a Beautiful Place” and “Glory Train” are exceptional songs that strongly display many of the great qualities you can find within Phil Mitchell Band’s music. You can learn more about Phil Mitchell Band through their website and we have the entirety of “A Better World” embedded below via Spotify - take a listen to these awesome tracks!
