Album Review: “Cinematic Songs Vol. 7” by Tommee Profitt

When Tommee Profitt comes out with something new, especially an album, you know I have to come out of hiatus for it. Fortunately, this isn’t the only review I am doing this summer. There is a big possibility you will get another when I come back for the end of July.

I didn’t even know it was coming out until about four days before it was released. As of the 20th of June, I still hadn’t listened to it because I kept going back and forth whether I wanted to blog about it, like as a proper album review, but since I hadn’t done one of these in so long that I literally almost vetoed it altogether. Thankfully, I changed my mind because I am in need of a cinematic binge, what about you?

So, let’s recap before we go too far into this post. Tommee started launching these clusters back in 2017. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it might have something to do with the fact I never talked about volume six–I still don’t understand why I never did anything with it but I will say, it is still an album that isn’t as popular compared to the others for me. After that release, he took a mini break and worked with Fleurie (who frequently lends her voice and lyrics on past works) with their ‘Game of Thrones’ project “Gloria Regali” and then he devoted his time with Christian rapper NF on “The Search” (2019) and “CLOUDS MIXTAPE” (2021), but now he’s back with this bad boy, and I think we’re ready to get into it now.

The first track, “Who Will Save Us” actually features Fleurie, which honestly doesn’t surprise me. Tommee is known to work with both veterans in the cinematic world and some newbies too! I really liked the mild sounding of the introduction, it collides into Fleurie’s voice really well and even when the song explodes with this fierce power, neither one of these aspects are lost in the chaos. My only bad thing about is, it’s pretty short and I think I would have liked it more if it was a little longer and surprised me a little more too. Next we move on to, “Sinners & Saints” and this was the song that made me think we could be getting some new music by Tommee but I did not think an album would follow suit! I adore Beacon Light and I always feel happy and sort of lighter while listening to his songs and this one wasn’t any different. The one thing I wasn’t expecting was Moilba Mustapha and that country vibe coming through in the choruses. It is really good and definitely hits differently!

The artist Stanaj has a gorgeous voice! Personally, I am still obsessed with their track “Love Me” so I was thoroughly ecstatic to see them on here working with Tommee. “I Will Be Your Hero” really cuts you deeply with that slow beginning with just Stanaj’s soft vocals and piano in the background. You always know the song is going to be good if the piano is the main instrument–at least for me it always is! This song is so full of emotions and raw; it’s almost sexy in a way. Our fourth song is “Be Careful” with Laney Jones. I’m pretty sure Laney has been on the other albums but don’t hold me against that because I could be wrong. Anyways, I am in love with the music box lullaby start because it gives it a sweetly dark vibe and thankfully we glide into that feeling for the entire track. I need more of these type of songs honestly. I am surprised it was playing during the promos for the new Conjuring film that came out earlier last month.

As much as I didn’t want it the previous to end, we move to “Reign” with Anna Graceman. Now I will say, I don’t recognize Anna’s name nor her voice, but I like it. She has a soulful element that I didn’t think I needed until I heard it for this song. The track is very pop oriented but with her type of voice, it kind of gives off this bluesy vibe that isn’t overbearing by any means, but it is there as she hits those high notes towards the end. One thing I definitely approve of these albums–well, technically, I approve of a lot of things, but this is a favorite of mine!–s that he will include one or two instrumentals and with this installment, we get two of them. We begin with “Nocturnal Opus” and it definitely gives off that feeling it was created either late at night or after you’ve been up wayy over your limit. However, I really enjoy the eerie sound of the choir in the background. The entire track is spooky and wonderful. It ties in beautiful with “Be Careful” although they are two songs apart from each other.

“Powerful” is the one that I’ve been looking forward to the most as it has two of my favorites: Sam Tinnesz and Ruelle. These artists are very well-known in the cinematic pop world, as Ruelle has worked with the TV series Shadowhunters and Sam Tinnesz is basically everywhere now! I hear them all the time and it always makes so happy to see them getting all of this attention. The song itself is pretty mild but I honestly enjoy this seductive balance between Sam and Ruelle’s voices. They are both quite soft and it was nice to hear a beat match their octaves in this way. I had to listen to this one about three times to actually relish in it for a while. However, I had to go on and “Frontlines” was a nice sequel. It has another guest artist that has worked with Tommee before, Jessie Early. She reminds me of Ruelle but with an extra punch, I think Ruelle is very airy, dreamy sound whereas Jessie has a darker edge and is perfect fit on these fast paced tracks. I think my overall favorite element of this one are the string section near the end. They really make the song better!

The eighth record is called “Wake Up” and we have Xeah and this is so beautiful! I really adored the simple introduction, where its just their voice in that low, almost monotone sound and nothing else. We get a few lines like that but then it explodes and it is really strong and suspenseful in every way. The most interesting thing is, Xeah doesn’t have a lot of lyrics so the rest is instrumental, and it is super hypnotic. I thought this was the coolest one on the album, until I heard the next one. “Lament From The Grave” features Stanaj again, and I don’t want language Stanaj is singing but I love it! It kind of gave me like Hans Zimmer vibes because I’ve heard several tracks that are similar, so it was an interesting and new thing for not only me, but Tommee too, because we haven’t heard anything like this before. It sounds exotic and heartwarming at the same time though.

We are nearing the end of our time together; I hope you’re still with me.

I am such a sucker for anything with a little bit of moxie in it. “Welcome to my world” is definitely one of those types of songs. The artist included in this one is :LYRA, and I don’t quite know if they have been on previous numbers or not, but I like their voice. I feel like this could be great playing on the first episode of “Riverdale” new season this fall or perhaps the reboot of “Gossip Girl” It has a gripping but flirty sound and it is so good! Next is our final instrumental, “The Day Before” and I don’t know about you, but anything with these three words will have a sad element to it. You may not hear it at first but it’s there. I think it was really good, not at all crazy but perfectly balanced to showcase both a lighter and sort of panic atmosphere and it really works well with the final track, which is “Tragic” with Fleurie. It is a beautiful broken type of song and I really like these different sounds of bells going on in the background. It was the perfect ending.

I was honestly a little worried after I started this post, because I wasn’t sure I could do it anymore. I feel like I’m not the best person to review albums because I’m not great at describing things–I feel like I’m worse at discussing music. So, I took a big risk at jumping in with a Tommee Profitt produced album but I did it. I may never understand why I didn’t talk about volume seven but this one was really impressive! It was definitely needed after we went through in 2020, so I would rate it as six out of ten stars altogether.

Have you listened to “Cinematic Songs (Vol 7)” by Tommee Profitt yet? If you have, what song(s) was your favorite? What about the guest singers too?

Music Monday | Tommee Profitt

Hello!

For my last post for this series, I will be talking about Tommee Profitt. A music producer, composer and songwriter that I’ve been keeping up with since probably the end of 2017. I still don’t really know how I found him in the first place; I do remember I was on Spotify, but the connection between the two is still a little foggy. Anyways, it happened and it’s been incredible journey so far!

What a lot of people don’t understand is that, everything is connected in some form or another. Everything happens for a reason.

To me, there really isn’t a big jump between symphonic metal and cinematic/trailer music. I think there are a lot of similiarities between the two of them, epesically when it comes to writing the concept. The lyrics are easy to read and can be filled of different emotions. They both encourage the use of choir and big orchestra elements depending on the mood of the song itself.

Now as I say “trailer” music, I don’t necessarily mean Hans Zimmer, Alan Silverstri, etc. Nowadays, composers like Tommee and vocalists you have probably never heard of yet somehow they are (mostly) all located in Nashville are creating these gorgeous songs for various promos and they are becoming the new generation of what is cinematic music. Lately, the world has started to see the genius of Tommee’s work, which is really awesome! Two years ago, Tommee teamed up with a long time contributor Fleurie to do a tribute album for the final season of “Game Of Thrones”. I previously listened to the soundtrack that was put together Travis Scott, Ellie Goulding, Hallie x Chloe, etc. However, this one was worthy to be part of the score I thought because it was so beautiful with Fleurie’s dreamy vocals and fierce compositions behind her in the music.

You may not know this, but last year he worked with Christian rapper NF on his album The Search. I think the two of them have worked together before this release, but I’m not too sure about it. I feel like I can judge what feels and sounds like something Tommee would create, but in the last two cinematic compilations, he is starting to expeiment with other genres like country and a little bit of rock, which is great but sometimes I have issues with figuring out what Tommee has produced for him or not. There are other artists he tends to work with a lot, and they are Sam Tinnesz, Ruelle and Jung Youth. If you haven’t heard of anybody featured in this post, you should definitely give everybody a listen, trust me, you’ll end up loving something among the people I’ve included in here.

Have you heard of Tommee Profitt’s work? If you have, list that person or any others below in the comments for me! Do you have a favorite track too?

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!

EP Review: “Born Again” by RAIGN

In 2014, I discovered a bunch of singer-songwriters making music in the alternative genre. I remember that I had three straight days of where I did nothing but look on Spotify for more artists Banks, Zella Day, Laurel, Ruelle and RAIGN. What’s even weird about the four ladies is that I managed to find all of them in one show, as their music was being played on the episodes of The Vampire Diaries! 

For this review, I’ll be discussing RAIGN’s third extended play called “Born Again”. It was released back on January 26th, and I actually didn’t even know about it. I saw a track she released a couple of weeks before called “Believe With Me’ and I figured that if she had released one that more should be coming soon and I was right! Unfortunately, the song is not included on the EP, but we do hear four new tracks so I think that’s a good trade!

So we start with a song that was originally on her first EP, Knocking On Heavens Door that came out in 2015. The track is “Empire Of Our Own” and instead of releasing an acoustic version in which she’s done in the past, this one has a totally different vibe. Since her music is mostly played on trailers to movies and television shows, this was given a cinematic feel to it as it is an orchestra mix. I’ll honestly say that I wasn’t a fan of the original version of the song, I thought it was dull and boring so when I saw this, I thought “well, maybe it’ll make it better!” It does have a very ominous sound, and with Raign’s deep raspy voice, it has more depth to it. I do enjoy the entrance to the chorus at the beginning with those loud bangs of the drums, but as a whole, I’m still not a fan of it. There’s not much that makes special to the others that I’m used to seeing with these certain mixes.

Second song is “One Thing Leads To Another” and this has a fast paced beat to it that I really like, I feel like this one has a lot of possibilities to it. There are high pitched sirens that go off right before the choruses start and to me they sounded like a bunch of trains signaling their coming through. I don’t know that could be just me hearing things. I like the commanding section of the horns though, they add a very strong force to the song. Next we have “The World Is Ours” and even though it’s quieter, you can feel all of the emotions of both Raign’s voice and beat itself. I really like the stripped section, where the sound takes its time to surface with her voice. I think we’re all expecting songs with these types of titles, that they’re supposed to dramatic and heavy, but I think this is a clear example that they don’t have to be!

Lastly we have “This Is The End” and I remember when I saw the title at first, I had to do a double take because Ruelle has a song “This Is The Hunt” and I swore I saw it written like that too, but it was just my eyes playing games with me! I was hoping that it would have that epic sound that she’s used to releasing here lately and I definitely wasn’t disappointed as it went over my expectations. I really like the gentleness of the beat itself, but of course it has this commanding sound with the deep banging of the drums and it sort of has this metallic vibe added by some electric guitars. It has a lot of different elements included on it, but I’m happy to say that they don’t make it so chaotic and overwhelming!

I’m really happy to see Raign get stronger as a cinematic-pop artist. Yes, this title does exist and I’m very happy it does! Considering I don’t like too many of her songs at one time, I’m actually pretty happy with these tracks on this EP. I think with time, she’ll just continue to kill and get better! I’m still hopeful that one day we’ll actually get a full length album as she’s only put out these extended plays plus a few singles here and there, but for now we have this to enjoy!

Are you a fan of RAIGN? Have you listened to her new “Born Again” EP yet? What were your favorites?