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Moderate Rebels - The Rad Trads

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Moderate Rebels - I Love Today.

Background - London-based collective Moderate Rebels release ‘I Love Today’, streaming from 8th August, from their second album ‘Shared Values’, which will be out 30th November on Everyday Life Recordings.

Unlike previous single ‘Beyond Hidden Words’, which can be heard as a defiant, repetitive yet hopeful chant, ‘I Love Today’ is a shift in style. It has some verses, choruses and even a middle eight section… And Moderate Rebels say they "still don’t know if this song is optimistic or not”.

Moderate Rebels: “Both ‘I Love Today’ and ‘Beyond Hidden Words’ were made without us knowing what musically they exactly are… Or even letting that particular question really get involved in their making. We’re quite comfortable saying that we didn’t know what we were doing.”

“To our ears , ‘I Love Today’ is chaotic, falling apart, off at a tangent and nearly glam. Perhaps set in an old fashioned social club. A faint trace of The Equals, The Foundations, Edison Lig…
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Paper Cameras - Louise Marshall

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Paper Cameras - Speed of Wine.

Background - The Painted Light LP from Paper Cameras has been a long time coming and well worth the wait. The lo-fi polyphonic soundscape is full of ethereal harmonies reminiscent of the 90’s garage influenced rock scene that veteran Portland musician Michael Carothers helped form. The history of Paper Cameras began in 2005, when Carothers (Spectator Pump/All The Dead Horses/The Glib) conceived the project and began writing songs. Three years later, the E.P. Lost Weekend was born. The E.P. was recorded with longtime friend, Nashville’s Jerry Wayne Campbell (Spider Virus/Millionaire Magicians) and producer Sean Flora (Black Keys/Shins/Stephen Malkmus).

The following years Carothers took a brief hiatus from songwriting to open the successful Japanese restaurant, Miho Izakaya and spent the next half decade keeping sake flowing and quietly writing songs in his few spare hours. In 2014, with a renewed musical focus he sold his stake in Miho Izakaya and bought …
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Dear Willow - Klammer - Nicholas Krgovich

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Dear Willow - I Was Young.

Background - Following on from the cautionary lament of Hold, Dear Willow is pleased to announce the arrival of new single I Was Young, taken from her forthcoming EP Hold Yourself Down (out September 14). Beckoning tales from the past, I Was Young explores feelings of being trapped within situations similar to that of a somewhat manic pixie dream girl character. It bares the raw truth of consequences when breaking down that bubble.

Dear Willow is the creative voice of Sunshine Coast based artist Em-J Dau. Since 2012 Dear Willow has transformed from poet to a solo acoustic act and embraced her sound through a full band. A testament to its creator's talent, Dear Willow is both Em-J's nom de plume and her persona artistica: a vessel that can change shape and direction, allowing her to truly explore her creativity.

Dear Willow's first single, Father's House (2015) introduced Em-J’s uniquely smoky voice to the big wide world, capturing a beautiful s…
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Walter Lure & The Waldos - Habberdash - Haley Blais

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Walter Lure & The Waldos - Damn Your Soul / Crazy Kids.

Background - Walter Lure & The Waldos present 'Damn Your Soul' aheads of releasing their new album 'Wacka Lacka Boom Bop A Loom Bam Boo'. This is the first new album in 2 1/2 decades from legendary guitarist-vocalist Walter Lure, an original member of The Heartbreakers, who spearheaded the first wave of punk rock, and also long-time collaborator with The Ramones. The Heartbreakers were also the band that supported the Sex Pistols on their 1976 Anarchy Tour just as the UK punk scene was building momentum.

"This is my first release of new songs in 25 years or so since the last Waldo’s album. That might seem like a long time but it really only feels like a few years-life seems to contract over long periods for some reason," says Walter Lure. Earlier, Walter Lure & The Waldos previewed the lead track 'Crazy Kids', which will be featured in the forthcoming full-length film 'Thunders: Ro…
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Healyum - Shapes On Tape - John Mohead

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Healyum - Cheap Alcohol.

Background - Newcomers Healyum have delivered on early promise with new single ‘Cheap Alcohol’.  Previous singles ‘Lies’, ‘Three Months’ and ‘Fools Eyes’ have been supported by Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, and Radio X (where all three have appeared on the evening playlist). 

‘Cheap Alcohol’ will join those earlier singles on the bands debut ‘Join The Party EP’ (released on July 27th).  Combining London Grammar-like minimalism with a shimmering, pop-tronica edge inspired by Lorde, they’ve received glowing reviews.  The music has also found it’s way onto various BBC Drama & Channel 4 TV shows, and they won the ‘Breakout Artist Award’ at the NMG Awards last year. The band’s BBC Introducing support led to them being filmed live in-session and they recently played alongside fellow Bedford-boy Tom Grennan as well as Fickle Friends and Circa Waves.

Singer-songwriter Jeaná Healy explains that if she threw a party, ‘Cheap Alcohol’ would be the sound…
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Tomberlin - Caezar

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Tomberlin - Any Other Way.

Background - Tomberlin, the rising Louisville, KY-based artist, has released a video for "Any Other Way," the opener from her anticipated Saddle Creek debut album, At Weddings. On her deeply moving debut album At Weddings, Sarah Beth Tomberlin writes with the clarity and wisdom of an artist well beyond her years. Immeasurable space circulates within the album's ten songs, which set Tomberlin's searching voice against lush backdrops of piano and guitar. Like Julien Baker and Sufjan Stevens, she has a knack for transforming the personal into parable. Like Grouper, she has a feel for the transcendent within the ordinary.

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, and now based in Louisville, Kentucky, Tomberlin wrote most of At Weddings while living with her family in southern Illinois during her late teens and early twenties. At 16, she finished her homeschooling curriculum and went to college at a private Christian school she describes, only half-jokingl…
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Jen Awad - Hey Harriett - John Hiatt

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Jen Awad - Break A Man.

Background - Grab the nearest fire extinguisher cos Jen Awad is about to set your wig alight. This half Egyptian, half Peruvian powerhouse delivers the kneecap melting soul and sass of Etta James combined with an in-your-face swagger reminiscent of Tina Turner. Self taught on vocals, piano, guitar and bass, Jen also pens the lyrics to all of her material.

Jen's ability to deliver cherubic, velvety vocals that effortlessly transition into the radical rumble of a runaway 18 wheeler doing 90 mph on an open highway is a feat in itself to witness live. Backed by an eight member band with a horn section, Jen Awad packs a combination punch that will leave your core ringing in the most delectable manner imaginable. Recently Jen Awad has been selected to play the Broke L.A. Festival, being 1 of 50 acts chosen out of 700 contenders. She has consistently filled her local L.A. venues to maximum capacity and is steadily gaining ground as a widely respected act in the L.…
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Japanese Television - Party Hardly

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Japanese Television - Tick Tock.

Background - Japanese harp and synth player Ian Thorn and Bassist Alex Lawton met on tour in Europe, performing as part of a Canadian space-rock orchestra. They bonded over their shared passion for Finnish experimental band Circle, Pink Floyd, Television, Broadcast and Brian Eno, and went on to form instrumental space-surf band, Japanese Television, with James Moriaty and Tim Jones.

They put together a collection of tracks that would make their debut self-titled EP and went into “the studio” (i.e a village hall outside of Peterborough, England, armed with an 8-track) with Kristian Bell of The Wytches at the helm. The EP is out on 7th September via revered underground label Tip Top Recordings (Cassels, Sun Cop).

This week the band share first single from the EP; Tick Tock - a white knuckle ride journey through time and space. The single was given its first play last night on John Kennedy's Radio X, with John making it a 'hot one'. He said the …
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Princess Chelsea - Meres

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Princess Chelsea - Wasting Time.

Background - New Zealand subversive pop artist Princess Chelsea (Chelsea Nikkel) shares the second single "Wasting Time" from her forthcoming fourth studio album The Loneliest Girl, due out on 7 September via Lil' Chief.  The album examines the loneliness and ultimately the artistic satisfaction a strong work ethic can bring, the result of which is this eclectic collection of pop songs. The Loneliest Girl captures moments of inspiration and madness, with lyrics that show Chelsea isn't afraid to ask the deeper questions while still maintaining a playful nature about it all.  "I can’t be bothered with subscribing to any kind of 'sound,'" Chelsea says.

That becomes evident upon listening to "Wasting Time," a pop culture puzzle, sonically speaking. The song has influences of early Madonna melded with 1960s Brian Wilson that Chelsea peppers with kitschy Yamaha DX7 synths, trombone, and a choir.  The music video f…
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JP Harris - Adam's House Cat - Cosmic Strip - The Rad Trads

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JP Harris - When I Quit Drinking.

Background - In today’s musical culture, the word “authenticity” seems to have lost all meaning. What used to represent something bona fide and true is now just watered-down marketing speak, stamped onto press releases without a second thought. Born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1983, JP Harris doesn’t fancy himself a musician as much as he does a carpenter who writes country songs. However, his stranger-than-fiction story begins after the eighth grade, when he left home on a Greyhound bus in the middle of a summer night. And he’s never looked back.

Released this week is an album highlight and first single, “When I Quit Drinking,” which, as its title suggests, is a tender look at one of Harris’ most personal struggles. Gossamer strands of pedal steel complement the gentle quaver in his voice, underpinning some of his most personal lyrics to date.

With his forthcoming album Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing (due out October 5th on Free Dirt Records), Harris is …
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Joy Autumn - The Kut - Odetta Hartman

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Joy Autumn - Brave.

Background - Brave is her poppiest song to date and possibly her best. Her chamber-esque, Kate Bush influenced voice is still front and center, but the instrumentation, full of synths and drum machines, is intriguing and the chorus, incredibly catchy. 

Written as a personal pep talk during a dark period of depression, the song ultimately became something larger—an encouragement to confront your fears, to be honest about your experiences, to reach out for help and take tremendous leaps of faith like approaching a love-interest or chasing your dreams.

“I wrote Brave when I was feeling so depressed I could hardly get out of bed. I forgot why I created music in the first place and Brave was written as a personal pep talk to myself. Depression is something that I’ve struggled with my whole life, but is not something that I’ve talked about publicly, until this song. 

If I can help one person become inspired, despite their obstacles, to get out of bed, take a chance, and con…
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