Music Review: "By My Side" (Single) and "Passion" (EP) from Nick de la Hoyde

Nick de la Hoyde is a 21-year-old singer, songwriter, and rapper from Sydney, Australia. While it's wonderful to review some local talent, I must admit that Hip Hop has never really been 'my genre', so I was a little unsure about this one. I wanted to approach this review with an open mind though, and can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised with Nick de la Hoyde's ability to blur the lines between several genres, including vibes of hip-hop, pop, soul, R&B, and spoken word.

His EP, titled "Passion", begins with the track "Aces". It starts out with a pop sound and Nick's singing is actually really beautiful. His rapping is quite impressive too, as it's certainly not something everyone can do!

"By My Side" is the next single on this track, and already this one has been met with great success. The first 20 seconds contains some really impressive singing showing the musician's range in vocals. The chorus is particularly catchy, and around the 3:10 mark, the excitement and tempo raises - a part I rather enjoyed.

"The Longest Way" follows on from this, and what struck me during this song was the way in which it draws parallels between the sounds of other great Australian Hip Hop artists such as Seth Sentry and 360. I read that Nick's songs "express the angst and triumphs that come with youth, dreams, and determination", and believe this is especially evident in this track. I think these are notions that we can all relate to also, making Nick's work appeal to the greater masses (even if, like myself, you don't consider yourself a Hip Hop lover).

Next up is "Where's the Party At?", which contains a fun and upbeat beginning before a darker, almost wistful chorus. There's also a fantastic electric guitar solo in the last third of the song.

The second last track on this EP is titled "Passion". It starts with a sombre piano and stripped back vocals as the musician starts softly, gradually increasing in volume, drama and passion. The drums really add to the heightened drama and passion of this song. I think what is unique about Nick is that it isn't often you listen to a Hip Hop artist who can also sing so delicately and so beautifully, just as he does.

The final track is titled "No Consolation", and it's a collaboration with fellow Sydney band Monks of Mellonwah (who I recently reviewed here). The start of this song was very 'Fall Out Boy' for me and despite there being so many "yeah yeah's" throughout the song, I thought it was a great combination of sounds from the pair which blended together effortlessly.

You can listen to Nick de la Hoyde's single "By My Side" on SoundCloud. You can also keep up-to-date with the musician by heading to his website or following along on Instagram (@ndelahoyde) and Facebook. Enjoy!

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- This review is part of our ongoing Music Review series where Whim is introduced to an array of artists from Independent Music Promotions.