Album Review: “Cinematic Songs Vol. 5” by Tommee Profitt

We’re back with another batch of cinematic songs by record producer Tommee Profitt! I was so excited to hear that we would be getting another album, especially the fact that it would come out the day after my birthday! Unfortunately, I had to wait over two weeks to finally listen to it because I’ve had some issues lately, but it’s only added the fuel to the fire that I need to listen and review this for all of us!

If you’ve never listened to a Tommee Profitt cinematic volume before, he usually has close to 12-13 songs in some type of epic sound. So, you might have these powerful, in your face tracks that everybody seems to go for immediately, but he’s also started to come out of his shell and experiment with other genres and tempos too. The majority of them with independent, based in Nashville artists of various genres. For this one, we have six “veterans” coming back for this collection along with a few newcomers too. Tommee also likes to include a couple of instrumentals to the layout as well and I think it always give the album an edge to the whole thing.

The first track we have is “Heroes Rise” and it has Sam Tinnesz on it. I really love Sam’s soulful voice against these hefty beats. For this, I really like the slow build to the whole song. Despite having a strong ending, it’s actually pretty gentle and will inspire your inner fighter to come alive. Now for the next song, “You Made Me Do It” can be about anything you want it to be, actually all songs can be about whatever you want, you just have to change your perspective! I am really in love with this one though. It has a sassy sound all around, and I think Ruby Amanfu has a terrific voice to give it that extra edge that it needed to take it over the top! It’s definitely a favorite of mine for sure!

We all know and love Fleurie’s voice, and I’m so glad that she continues to work with Tommee because he always seems to make her sound even more beautiful than the last one. “Can You Feel The Heat Now” was the first song I actually listened to, I was on YouTube listening to my mix and it automatically came on, and since I didn’t recognize it at first, I kind of figured it was probably new. I like the calming piano introduction along with her sweet voice and then all of a sudden, this electric guitar sound would appear and gave it a nice rock-ish vibe. From the moment it starts, you get this feeling that it may not be as good as you originally thought, but what I really liked about it was not knowing what could come next. Would it stay in this tempo? And then towards the end, it does grow but not as grand as we’re used to with an average Fleurie song. Jung Youth is a Christian rapper, that has worked with Tommee before and I really love that we’re hearing a hip hop-cinematic fusion. “Who’s Gonna Stop Me’ is a great workout song to listen to gain that motivation when you need it the most!

For this next song, “Witching Hour” we hear a newcomer by the name of Brooke Griffith. It’s an extremely spooky track when it first starts, which will fit naturally with the paranormal television shows like The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, Riverdale, and Legacies. The cinematic elements to this song really made it come to life. I just wish it was longer! Our first instrumental is “Dark Conscience” and it really continues the ominous vibe we had going with the previous song, except the original beat is gone. I really like the usage of the horns and violins, because they each have a creepy factor to them. I just feel like a monster is going to be unleashed at the end of it. The seventh track, is “Follow Me” featuring my favorite Ruelle. This has a lively, but cosmic feeling everytime I listen to it. I get a real futuristic sense, and weirdly enough I actually liked it.

Sam Tinnesz comes back with “Far From Home” and it also mentions that it’s the trailer version, so there must be an original somewhere. Even though I’ve never heard of the other one. It’s kind of has a mellow sound to it, but towards the end of the climax, it gets faster and almost louder. I think it’s pretty good! Afterwards we move on to, “Rise Above This” and the singer on this one is Trella. Unfortunately, I was really torn about this because initially I didn’t like her “ahhs” up and down the scales, but the rest isn’t that bad. So, I’m still questioning that one a bit. “I’m A Ruler” is up next and Ruby Amanfu comes back for a second round. She brings that sassy voice again, and what I loved about it is the pop-bluesy sound you get with this. It’s not a song that could really work with a action based film, unless there’s a female-comedy vibe going on.

“Unbreakable” starts the end of the album, with Mike Mains on the vocals. I really adore Mike’s voice as well so I was happy to see him on the tracklist again. The song itself has an awakening kind of vibe going on, and I really like the lyrics with this and I definitely approve of the mellow beat it has with it. It was in your face, but not overwhelming! We have our final instrumental, “Infidels At Bay” and for once we have a makings of a ballad, but it doesn’t really stay like that. I would love to hear at one softer song or ballad with these albums to kind of give the listeners a nice little break. This was a good attempt. Our last song is “A Storm Is Comin” by Liv Ash. I like the thunder rumbles with the fast going piano playing, I thought that was a cool combination. The cinematic part does break through like a storm and it really has a fiery ending. It was just perfect!

 I was really impressed with this, but I’m pretty sure I say that about every volume so far! Oh, I don’t care. Cinematic music in any form makes me really happy and I really love hearing new artists being featured on these songs, that maybe you wouldn’t hear otherwise. If you’ve never heard anything in the cinematic/trailer music world, you should really look into Tommee Profitt’s other four albums! Just go in order, you’ll thank me later!

Have you listened to Tommee Profitt’s new volume of cinematic songs yet? What were some of your thoughts? Before checking this out, had you ever listened to any other composers in the epic music? 

 

EP Review: “Visions” by UNSECRET

While I was busy discovering Tommee Profitt’s third cinematic release last month, I actually found another batch of epic music that I accidentally stumbled upon on YouTube. There is literally no information about UNSECRET, there is nothing on their social medias of whether it’s a group, duo or one person creating the beats, and once a cycle is up, they just kind of disappear. All I’ve managed to find out that is that they’re released a new album and it features different artists, some you might know already and there’s a few you may not! The album is called “Visions” and consists of six songs, all with a different singer on the track itself. So let’s get right into it!

The first song we start off is “Wake Up World” and it has one of my favorite female cinematic artists, Ruelle. You may have heard of her music on different TV shows like The Vampire Diaries and Shadowhunters. UNSECRET has chosen a very soft introduction to the record. Ruelle has a beautiful soft and raw quality in her voice, there’s so much emotion built into it, even if the track itself is very mellow. I figured it would be rather jam-packed but it’s a slow building, although it never really loses that chill atmosphere, it’s still very charming. Next we have “Running For Your Life” and again we have a soft beginning, but then we have this burst of ominous elements with the piano and an almost haunting synths. This featured Australian singer-songwriter Butterfly Boucher, and her voice is fairly low throughout the entire song, it just stays in that one pitch but it’s lovely against the heavy sounds in the background.

Third is “Be A Witness” and you might recognize this singer too. Fleurie’s airy voice is nice and this has a urban feel and pop vibe to me, so it could work to pretty much anything. And the next one is “No Mercy” with Icetope. This has a very serious and fast pace! I liked it a lot, but I’ve realized over time that these are usually the shortest songs on the entire thing! I’ve never heard of Icetope, and like UNSECRET, finding any information about her or them is virtually impossible!

Now we have the fifth track is another featuring Fluerie, “From This We Are Born” and I liked the soft breakaway from the previous song. It has its up tempo moments, but it’s not as intense as the other one, but I actually preferred Fluerie’s voice in this one. I like the story she’s telling. Lastly there’s “Never Give Up” and this has Rose Cousins, a Canadian folk/pop singer in it. I like the fact that we started this on a semi-low note and we’re going to end it in the same way. Rose’s voice is very sweet, loving and encouraging with the meaning of the song. I really enjoyed this one!

This was a very interesting release! I’m glad you can actually find other producers and composers actually making really good quality cinematic music and it also helps that there are people like me, who also enjoy the genre just as much. I always want to know whatever music is playing behind the trailer or commercial. And usually I’m very lucky and can find it easily because somebody has usually done the work for me! UNSECRET made a very slow and steady product that I actually loved. I don’t like the epic ballads that some do, I like the fire blazing dramatic showstoppers, but every once in a while with the right singer, they bring out a certain emotion out of a scene or whatever you may be feeling at the time, and it helps you get it out.

Have you heard of UNSECRET yet? Do you like cinematic music too? Are there other artists that sound like them? Let me know!

Album Review: “Cinematic Songs Vol. 2” by Tommee Profitt

Okay, so I know this isn’t anything to do with Christmas, but I wanted it up before the end of the year.

Back in February, I reviewed Tommee’s first collection of cinematic songs and I thought it was a big hit. However, in the mist of everything going on in my life this year, I seemed to have forgotten about the possibility of the second volume being released sometime later this year. It wasn’t until two weeks ago that I had the thought “oh, I wonder if he’s released anything new lately?” and  sure enough I went on Spotify and there was the next 13 tracks for volume two. Believe in your gut guys, when it starts telling you something listen to it, even if it’s something such as this!

I think this batch came out several months ago, because Tommee’s newest song “Your Love Awakens Me” came out in July, so there’s a big chance it came out around April and I’m sadly just finding it now.  Since I reviewed the last one, I have decided to talk about this too.

If you don’t know what cinematic music or epic cinematic as its usually called, is music that sounds like it belongs with an advertisement of a new movie, TV show and/or video game. The themes cover loss, love, hatred, breakthroughs, and war. The music itself has both symphony incorporated with some pop elements here and there, but it’s mostly hard hitting and can also sound heartbreaking too.

We start this with a song called “Hero” and it features singer Mike Mains and he originally makes indie rock music. I like how some of these artists that don’t usually create music like this on a daily basis are getting out of their comfort zones. I loved the slow start and the gentleness of it. It fits well with Mike’s soft voice, however, I think there is some rock elements in this song, especially in the heavy sound of the drums towards the end. Everybody knows I love a good start to any album and this nails it. Next, we have “Tomorrow We Fight” and I loved how this song made me think of my story I’m writing–this is what the genre does to me! Anyways, we have a very ominous beginning but you get that war theme right away and it’s strong. The sound is very light, but artist Scvrina also brings that out in her vocals too.

Third is “We Runnin” that features Beacon Light, who is a Christian rapper and I really, really enjoyed this song. Tommee didn’t feature any rappers on the last album, even though I know he had worked with NF so I’m happy as a clown to see him put this artist on this collection. The song has a playful vibe to it after the verses end, and the beat drops. I actually enjoy hip hop cinematic beats, I think they’re fun and energetic! The normal cinematic sound isn’t as prominent in this track but I don’t mind it. I actually don’t like the ending of it, I feel like going into the climax is too much and I think it should have just been him ending it in the way it started. The beat itself was interesting without that part in it. After that is “Shoot To Kill” and the artist included is Quivr and I’ve had the worst time finding anything about this person. Sorry. The song itself is very mellow compared to the others which is good because you don’t want every song to sound so big and powerful, even though that’s what everybody looks for in this genre, so I do enjoy the change in tempo.

Next we have “Breathe” which features a singer you might’ve heard before, as she was included in the last one: Fluerie. I actually recognized this, because it was released back in July. I feel as though that should have been my warning that something was up. The quiet introduction with only the piano and the gentleness of Fluerie’s voice is just beautiful. It is so dreamy and mysterious all mixed up together. It’s everything that I love really. One thing that I actually liked about the first album was the amount of instrumentals, there were only like three tracks that Tommee made but I thought they were all unique even though I kind of prefer the ones with different vocalists, so the fact that he only has two instrumentals on this album was a little sad, “Gambling With Fate” is really good, it’s not in your face from start to finish, but it does grab your attention and I actually liked it for that mellow vibe I got from listening to it.

We go back in the war related theme with “Ready For War” with artist Liv Ash, this is another mellow sounding track, but I feel like Liv’s strong but deep voice is an interesting mix. I think it is a perfect medium to her voice, it’s not overpowering like the end of track number three. It’s not bad. I felt as though with the next one sounds like a Halloweenie song, because the spooky organ in the introduction. I thought that was so strange considering we’re in December now. This is called “My Domain” and it features Scrvina again, and it has a more urban, pop feel to it than a fierce cinematic song. However, I don’t hate it. I think it’s different and makes you think twice of what this genre should sound like at all times.

Next is “Heart Of The Darkness” and if you liked the first album, you might remember the featured singer on this track: Sam Tinnesz. I was so happy to see him back on the second collection! The song itself is very light, it has a bit of a pop feel to it. So in a way, I was a bit disappointed but then again I started to enjoy it the more it continued. The tenth song is “Turns You Into Stone” which I thought was an curious title when I first saw it. This features Miss Fluerie again and it has a little ethereal feel, but I feel like that’s become like a calling call for her. She’s like a damn siren, you just want to hear everything that has her on it and this isn’t any different. However, I think you can hear that voice of hers better in this song than the others I’ve heard this year.

The last three songs, start with “Undefeated” and it features Beacon Light again. I was glad that Tommee actually gave him hip hop beats to rap over, it just gives the listener another level of the genre. I really enjoyed the beat drop and I was so happy that his didn’t have to scream over the orchestra parts at the end. I will say though, I think I prefer the first track, but I don’t know I’d have to hear a few more times before I really make a decision. Next is “Hold On For Your Life” and it has Sam Tinnesz on it. This has a really somber, almost dreamy vibe in the beginning. It definitely brings out that loss theme in the lyrics. It’s a gorgeous ballad, if we should put it into that category. The last one is “Moonlight Sonata Mvt. 3” and Tommee had released this back in 2016, but he added it here as a bonus track. It’s a classical piano instrumental but it has that touch of cinematic magic added to it, and it sounds very cool. I’ve always thought pianists that can play that quick are geniuses. It also makes me wonder at one point of time could my papaw do the same thing?

By the time I finished listening to this album, I had stopped kicking myself or my this case wanted to stop kicking myself for the fact that it took me so long to find it. I still feel like crap, but hopefully that’ll go away soon. Anywho, the second album is a good rival to the first. I am loving all of the new singers that Tommee featured on here. If you didn’t know, majority of the artists included on his songs are Christians and can be from around both Michigan and Nashville. So he is bringing out artists that you may not have heard yet, because people just assume that gospel/worship is boring, but in this type of enlivenment you can’t tell that they identify themselves more in that category of music. Same goes with the ones from Nashville, not all of the musicians that come out of that place want to be country singers. Keep your ears and heart open to new music everyday folks!

Have you heard of Tommee Profitt’s “Cinematic Songs Volume 2” yet? If you have, what are some of your favorite(s)?