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| Photo - Miles Bitton |
Chris Pierce shares his new single “It Ain’t Ever Wrong to Be Free,” the next preview of the LA singer-songwriter’s forthcoming album Songs for the Heavy Hearted, out August 21. A soulful highlight from the new record, the empowering song serves as a rallying cry for freedom – for ourselves, the people we love and those who cannot fight for themselves.
"I've never believed my job as a songwriter is to tell people what to think,” says Pierce. “My hope is to help people see one another more clearly. I've spent enough years traveling this country to know that every policy eventually arrives at someone's front door. That's where songs begin for me—not in politics, but in people. 'It Ain't Ever Wrong to Be Free' is about the courage to protect your peace, speak honestly, and stand beside people whose voices are too often ignored. To me, freedom means the most when it makes room for someone else."
“Sometimes, we’re going to get beaten and broken,” Pierce reflects. “But, even if you fire, arrest or threaten to imprison us, we’re going to pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and start again the next day. I’m still going to be out there moving forward with my voice, harmonicas and guitar in hand.”
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| Photo - Sasha Pedro |
Indie singer/songwriter Brooke Annibale has released her new single “Birthday.” The track is the latest to release off her forthcoming new album Bolder Font, which is due out on September 17th. A touch of nostalgia delivered with a wink, “Birthday” is an ode to friendships lost to fading time. It captures the quiet irony of two people who were once close enough to buy each other birthday cakes, now too distant to even send a text. Atwood featured the single and raved “A gentle giant of a song, it carries years of memory on a brooding pulse, wrapping Annibale’s raw, unflinching songwriting in sweet warmth.”
“The whole premise of this song is built around an awkward feeling, sort of like the feeling of running into someone you lost touch with and forgetting how to connect with them, even though you once knew them well,” stated Annibale. “This is my tongue-in-cheek reaction to that feeling." That tension lives right in the opening verse, while in the chorus, she wraps that bittersweet ache in an irresistible melody, balancing tongue-in-cheek wit with genuine warmth.
“Birthday” follows the release of the electrifying “Make You Mine,” which burns with the thrill of chasing something you simply can’t walk away from: the pursuit of love, a creative passion, a road not taken. It captures that irresistible pull of going after what you want one more time, making the scenic route feel like the only route worth taking. Annibale also recently released “Daily Dose,” a spirited reflection on unfiltered enthusiasm; “My Favorite Part,” the heartbreakingly vulnerable opening track; as well as the title track “Bolder Font,” which wrestles with the album’s underlying theme of self-worth and the gap between who we are and the identities that have been placed on us. Forged through disappointment, the song ultimately offers relief, a reminder that we have the power to shed that pressure and simply be enough as we are.
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Boston’s wires are still fraying, but this time Cut The Wire are not just chasing sparks. They are looking for connection in the middle of the blur. After making their debut with “The Friction,” a fuzz-loaded first strike that already found its way onto major alternative and rock playlists, Cut The Wire return with “Find A Friend,” the second glimpse of their upcoming debut album, dropping November 20 via TCBYML.
Where “The Friction” introduced the band’s rusted, high-voltage indie rock, “Find A Friend” kicks the door open with jittery fuzz guitars, crashing dry drums, messy melodic solos and double-tracked slacker vocals that sound like they are trying to outrun the room as it tilts sideways. It is fast, nervous and catchy in all the right ways, pulling from 80s college rock, lo-fi analog grit and the distorted melodic chaos of bands who know that beauty often lives inside the rattle.
Lyrically, “Find A Friend” is all loose threads, worn shoes, smudged maps and lucky mistakes. It captures that strange in-between feeling of wanting someone to reach for, while everything around you shakes just enough to make standing still impossible. The chorus says it best: “It’s a wire blur, it’s a mess I prefer.” That is the whole Cut The Wire world in one line: frayed, restless, loud, human and somehow better because it refuses to be clean.
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Victoria, BC rock outfit The Bankes Brothers share “Risk It All,” a high-energy, angsty, and jubilant new single that captures the tension between burnout and bold decision-making. Driven by punchy guitars, an old-school rock edge, and a sense of restless momentum, the track channels the frustration of chasing stability while trying to hold onto a creative dream.
At its core, “Risk It All” reflects the reality of building a life in music while navigating the uncertainty that comes with it. “Being in the music industry is everything we wanted starting out,” Nelson Bankes shares. “As we’ve gotten more into it, there’s often a lot more ‘hurry up and wait.’ We’ve all had to work jobs to support ourselves while we chase this thing which can burn you out pretty quick. This song is about that shared frustration, and the reminder that life is what you make of it.”
The song began almost accidentally in the most unassuming way. “This one mostly happened in the shower,” Nelson explains. “I just started humming it and realized that it was a song that hadn’t been written yet.” From that simple melodic idea, the track quickly evolved into one of their most direct and explosive recordings to date.
With rhythm guitar, bass, and drums locked in early, the song still felt like it needed something to fully ignite it. That missing piece arrived unexpectedly in the form of guitarist Carson, who was recovering from a heavy flu during the session. “He was buried in his hoodie on the couch in the corner,” Nelson recalls. “Within two or three takes, he had this crazy lead part that tied the whole song together.”
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