Reaven
Reaven – “A Place Where You Belong” -Stadium Rock from France
Reaven – “A Place Where You Belong” - New Rock
Reaven dates back to 2004, when Romeo Bassi and Vincent Fernandes met in school and formed their first band at 14. Fast forward nearly 20 years, and Bassi and Fernandes’s are one half of Reaven, a quartet based in France with 3 albums and multiple singles.
“A Place Where You Belong” ranks right up there with the stadium sing-alongs we’re accustomed to from Coldplay and the Chainsmokers; a positive vibe of inclusion. The track starts with a sweet electric riff, as the singer invites you to give him your hand to escape the darkness. The pace quickens as the pre chorus builds, on the back of a muted and reverbed snare strike. The drums kick in to elevate the chorus but the vocals are still the focus – it’s very well mixed. With the second verse, there’s a breakdown on the back of a muted string electric, with a subtle piano line as the singer encourages you in this moment to be strong. The second chorus takes us back to the peak – a celebration of finding that place where you belong. It’s a subtle track that we’d love to hear live – it’s easy to hear this being the final song of a stadium set.
This is a musically diverse band with plenty of acoustic and electro-based songs in their repertoire. “Escape” is another great track, acoustic based with layered vocals and sturdy chorus that moves into an electro vibe – mixed well to keep the focus on the vocals. “For Tomorrow Song” reminds us of the great delay-based guitar anthems of the 80’s. “My City’s on Fire” is like a heavy Lumineer’s track. “In The Sun” hits like a dance track with a rolling guitar riff over a four-on-the-floor pattern before the chorus breaks up the pattern. It’s easy to hear how this could be sampled for an EDM blast.
The band has a strong social media presence, does a good job with interviews in several languages and has found their way onto the indie charts over here. Time will tell if they can tour in the US, in the meantime they’ve definitely got a good thing going in Europe.