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Alice Austin Goodnight Euphoria Review by Gary Hill This album has such an interesting mix of sounds. There is a lot of psychedelic and dream pop stuff here. It also contains plenty of roots music, ranging from folk to country. There are a lot of alternative angles at times. Those are just the main reference points. This is artsy, creative and unique. A frequent reference is Stevie Nicks, mostly from the vocals. Whatever you call this or wherever you see the references lying, it's a strong release that is both effective and original. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2023 Volume 2. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2023.

Track by Track Review

No Such Thing There is a healthy helping of retro rock in the mix here. I dig the hints of psychedelia that show up here and there. Yet, this also drives out with some seriously hard rocking sounds at points. This is a classy alternative rocker with some unique concepts.

Wooden Mind Both modern art rock angles and old school psychedelia merge on this. The song is slow moving and incredibly cool. It rises upward toward more intense stuff further down the road.

Goodnight Euphoria There have been some hints of country and roots music on each of the first two tracks. The title track has more of that, but it's still all tempered with all kinds of alternative dream-pop and psychedelia, though. In fact, those two elements remain in the driver's seat. This is another particularly effective piece of music.

Relentless Sunshine Now this one comes in with an acoustic guitar based arrangement that has plenty of folk and country music at its heart. The vocals on this cut remind me of Stevie Nicks to some degree. In fact, this whole tune reminds me quite a bit of her music, but more her stuff for Fleetwood Mac than her solo music. This one has only a few hints of the dreamier music, sitting more firmly in the folk type zone.

Loveless Waste This seems to combine the sound of the last tune with that of the earlier ones. It's a bit more of a rocker, but it does have more of a grounded feeling to it. Again, the Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks thing is a valid reference.

Oxygen I love the delicate nature and the piano on this tune. This has some artsy elements, but is overall more of a folk piece.

Everything You Touch Another that's more rocking, this has some hints of the whole dream-pop concept that dominated the first part of the album, but overall it's fairly straightforward singer/songwriter type stuff.

Jellyfish I dig the vocal harmonies on this a lot. Some of the acoustic guitar work on this makes me think of David Gilmour's playing on the Meddle album by Pink Floyd. There are some dreamy things here, but overall this is another fits more along the folk music lines.

The Neighborhood Echoey electric guitar brings some cool textures and atmosphere at the start of this number. This has a killer retro rock sound to it. There are horn sounds that bring a real 60s Latin soundtrack vibe with them.

Never Occurred To Me There is more of the dreamy vibe here. This has some great art music meets folk sound built into it. This is a beautiful and melodic tune.

The Ward I dig this moody piece a lot. It has a lot of old school, moody Americana at its core. It's another classy tune.

Saving My Tears Starting with piano, this is another that makes me think of Stevie Nicks to some degree. It works forward with just piano and vocals. The arrangement fills out a little as it continues to evolve. It remains essentially built just on that piano and vocal concept, with only some minor augmentation at play.

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