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Rexford: “Good Lie” displays an impressive depth and profound intensity

NYC pop band Rexford was founded as a songwriting trio late in 2012. After the split of a bigger group, Matthew, Derek and Floris started to work together in an effort to “just write good songs.” Soon they had enough material to start playing live and from mid-2013 they have been performing regularly in and around the city.

Rexford
Rexford

If you love amazing music and appreciate great writing, great playing and great singing – the latest Rexford EP, “Good Lie”, is for you. Every inch of the music is superb – the drums by Derek Nelson, Keyboards and Production by Floris Boere and the Vocals by Matthew Hashimoto. Everything is just right! Their songs have depth. Through all the lyrics and singing, you definitely get a vivid sense of the storytelling and emotion.

The music is motivating, uplifting, inspiring, I consider this EP to be extremely ‘visual’. Matthew Hashimoto describes every inch, every feeling, of each song’s emotional inclination. The impact I received on first listening to Matthew was the same I had on first hearing Adam Levine (Maroon 5) and Jason Mraz; a voice so crystal clear and perfectly resonant that it is able to pierce even the tiniest places of your heart.

To be honest, for me, even Rexford’s overall sound sits somewhere between early Maroon5 and Mraz with a strong flavor of Simply Red, in that it is catchy, trendsetting and almost hypnotizing; with great melodies and hooks, and extremely well written choruses. Yet at the same time their music displays an impressive depth and profound intensity not often associated with pure pop. In fact the band themselves aptly define their genre between Pop, Soul and Indie.

Rexford
Rexford

The opening 2 songs on the Ep, the title track “Good Lie” and “Don’t’ Look Back” are worth the price of the Ep alone. Especially, “Don’t Look Back” – a song which I can only imagine somewhere very, very high up on the Billboard Charts. Rexford’s songwriting, performing talents and emotions truly explode through the vocals and musical accompaniment on this track.

Rexford’s music is particularly nuanced, colorful and expressive with lyrics that make you ponder and feel things on a deep and personal level, hence you will be immediately pulled in by the beautiful piano-driven “Yes, Virginia”, which is also the EP’s closing track. In-between you’ll discover another 2 extremely likeable tracks in “Space Parfait” and “Anthem”. Rexford have certainly made a near-perfect EP here.

Usually when you’re looking through reviews online there are so many mixed messages you find yourself wondering who to actually listen to. Without a doubt Rexford is definitely a band that you’ll need to listen to. The talent is literally dripping off these guys. Their music is vibrant, the lyrics are excellent, and the vocals superb, Rexford are simply a class act!

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