Showing posts with label Alice Costelloe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alice Costelloe. Show all posts

Wednesday, 19 November 2025

Skinny Lister - Romanie - Alice Costelloe - Adam Goldberg (The Goldberg Sisters) - Bino Bames

Skinny Lister - Tumbling Into Something.

Whetting appetites for their upcoming shows, the Folk Punk legends have prepared a brand new video for ‘Tumbling Into Something' Taken from their invigorating 2025 release ‘Songs From The Yonder’, amidst an album full of mostly up-tempo madness, “Tumbling Into Something” is the moment of calm that allows its listeners to catch their breath. 

Of the track, Dan Heptinstall shares: “I always feel Lorna’s voice shines on our ballad style tracks, and this track lends itself particularly well to her voice. It’s an optimistic song about tumbling fearlessly forward into life while acknowledging its beauty. It’s about surrendering to the uncertainties of life, and embracing the excitement of the ride. It’s also about new beginnings and second chances.”

Offering a more ambient and atmospheric arrangement than fans might usually expect from a Skinny Lister staple, the hallmark instruments are still all present and correct, albeit in soothing form. “The drums are played with bare hands rather than sticks, and the accordion in this case is used more to add mood than melody, played almost like a synth pad – it leans towards something that sounds a little more ‘Vangelis’ than traditional folk” adds Dan.  

‘Tumbling Into Something’ follows the seafaring ‘Yorkshire Belle’, the fervent ‘Plough On’, and swaggering drinking song ‘Set Us Straight’ among the singles plucked from their acclaimed 2025 album. Teeming with themes of seafaring, travelling and drinking, ‘Song From The Yonder’ is a riotous, feel-good listen that already feels right at home in the Skinny cannon.  


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Photo - Young Ha Kim
Romanie - I Won’t Yell.

Romanie shares her triumphant new single ‘I Won’t Yell’ along with news of her upcoming album It’s Not That Funny, set for release on Feb 20 via Community Music. New single ‘I Won’t Yell’ arrives as a declaration of defiance. Originally stemming from a folk song Romanie had written years earlier, ‘I Won’t Yell’ was co-produced with Adam Hyde (Peking Duk, Keli Holiday) and Tom Stell (Golden Features), reworked during a 3 day co-writing session in Sydney. Speaking to the process, Romanie shares, “We turned this small acoustic song upside down into this powerful statement, keeping basically all the lyrics and giving them a new meaning. 

The song is about not being heard as a woman: oftentimes we get called ‘too much’ or ‘too loud’ with the result of keeping our emotions to ourselves, or not speaking up about the things that we want to. ‘I Won’t Yell’ was a fun song to make: letting go of my constant self judgement with the nudge of Tom and Adam, who let me yell in the vocal booth.”

Multi-award-winning Naarm/Melbourne-based artist Romanie returned earlier this year with acclaimed singles ‘Uh Oh’ and ‘When Will We Lose Hope?’. In addition she signed off the summer by making her mark on Europe, supporting grentperez in Brussels and Gordi in Antwerp before joining pals Olivia Jane Bolmat and SHERÓSY  on their ‘Girls Tour’ stopping in London,, Manchester and Scotland.

‘I Won’t Yell’ is the third single lifted from Romanie’s forthcoming album, It’s Not That Funny. It marks a significant progression from her Australian Music Prize-nominated debut album Are We There Yet? As the new record showcases a transformation in Romanie’s worldview and artistry through embracing contradiction: finding light in the moments of darkness, hope in the face of adversity.


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Photo - Bex Aston
Alice Costelloe - Damned If You Do.

London singer-songwriter Alice Costelloe has unveiled new single 'Damned If You Do' - the latest preview of her highly anticipated debut album 'Move On With The Year', out 6th February 2026 via Moshi Moshi Records. 

Interrogating the crossroads between art and adulthood, 'Damned If You Do' reflects on the looming rituals of marriage, motherhood, and the idea of giving oneself away. Unfolding through warm organ tones, plaintive guitar lines and rumbling synths, Costelloe's crystalline vocals let the questions sit open rather than solved: "Would I do it for love / Do it for you / Give my body up / For something new."

On the release of her new single, Alice said: “I was thinking a lot about the next phase of life as I wrote this album. Cocooned away and focused purely on making music, I felt more creatively fulfilled than I had in a long time. It made me question how this freedom could exist if I followed a more conventional path. To prioritise domesticity and stability or to prioritise creative ambition – either choice felt like sacrificing something essential.

“I was also coming out of a period of keeping my head above water while navigating life with an addict parent, and I realised that whatever decisions I made next, I needed to be careful not to lose myself. ‘I don’t see myself all dressed in white / standing in the shadows’ is as much about my claustrophobia around the altar and its traditions as it is about resisting the pressure to embody some ideal of feminine virtue – to be expected to sacrifice your own life in service of another.”


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Adam Goldberg (The Goldberg Sisters) - Our Kind of Love.

Today, NY-based actor/director/musician Adam Goldberg announces When the Ships of My Dreams Return, the upcoming album from his moniker The Goldberg Sisters that will be released on February 20, 2026. This is the fifth album from The Goldberg Sisters, the current musical project from the multi-hyphenate who has starred in films like Saving Private Ryan, Dazed and Confused and 2 Days in Paris and appeared in TV shows like Friends, Entourage, Fargo and The Equalizer. The LP marks the first time where Goldberg has performed, recorded and mixed the entirety of the album on his own. Also today, he released the album’s first single “Our Kind of Love,” a track about the complexities of how to present love in an increasingly digital age. 

On the new single, Goldberg shares: “‘Our Kind of Love’ was the first song I began recording for the album, before I realized that I was recording another album. It had been several years, and between two kids and my day job, I had neither the time nor frankly the inspiration to make another record or even another song really. But I had begun making some guitar loops, a practice which has often led to songs, and this track was born out of one of those sessions. It began simply with the looped phrase ‘Our kind of love’ — ostensibly a love song — but as I fleshed it out became a song about some people’s presentation of love, especially in the context of social media. This theme ended up recurring throughout the process of writing what in fact became a full album.” 

His first LP since 2018’s Home: A Nice Place to Visit, When the Ships of My Dreams Return is his most expansive album yet in terms of style and lyrical themes, showcasing his ability to channel his energy into exploring unfamiliar terrain and re-emerging with a musical map that charts thrilling new paths for himself. And while Goldberg had played most everything on his last couple of records as well as self-recording several demos, he had never done it all entirely alone until now.

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Photo - Jorge Foley
Bino Bames - Gathers No Moss (EP).

20-year-old multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and creative visionary Bino Bames releases the 'Gathers No Moss' EP, alongside emotive visuals for new single ‘'Let You Go’' today.
 
With a string of standout singles already released from the EP; including 'Cocktail Princess’', 'Isolated' and 'Nothing's Real'; Bino Bames has earned tastemaker support from Clash, DIY, Wonderland, Cosmopolitan and The Line of Best Fit to name a few, and built a growing cult following in the process. Honing his craft across the collection of 8 tracks, Bino reveals his unique voice as an artist stepping into his own, instilled in the narrative arc of his songs with a cinematic edge.
 
Serving as both a closing chapter and a new beginning, 'Let You Go' is a euphoric collision of emotion and relentless energy, an anthem of heartbreak and self-discovery. Shot over two sessions between London & Spain, the 'Let You Go' music video is art directed by Bino himself, and directed by Bino's long term collaborator and creative director Jorge Foley, bringing a raw grunge inspired aesthetic channelling the track's emotional chaos.
 
'I'd just come off the Punchbag University Tour when Jorge flew in from Spain,' Bino recalls. 'We'd shot half the video a month earlier, but those last few days together were when everything finally clicked. I wrote this song five years ago, back in Vegas. Since then, I've lived through more relationships, more heartbreaks, more growing up, and all of that changed what the song means to me. After performing it so many times on tour, it’s taken on a new life. The video feels like the moment it finally caught up.'


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Wednesday, 29 October 2025

Edwina van Kuyk - Alice Costelloe - Murkage Dave - Moriah Bailey - Anna von Hausswolff feat. Ethel Cain

Edwina van Kuyk - Feels So Right (EP).

Three really notable and beautiful songs from singer-songwriter Edwina van Kuyk who returns with her most personal project to date, Feels So Right, a three-track EP that traces the journey of learning to let go, trust your gut, and find beauty in life’s chaos. The EP arrived yesterday October 28 on all streaming platforms, and is really worth a listen to as far as Beehive Candy are concerned (and we are!).

Rooted in themes of surrender, friendship, and self-trust, Feels So Right captures van Kuyk’s evolution as both an artist and a person. “Life doesn’t always make sense,” she shares. “But when something feels right, you have to go with it.” The EP is sonically rich and emotionally grounded — a fusion of nostalgic vocals, soulful grooves, and radiant melodies. Each track carries a warmth and polish resulting in a sound that glows with both vulnerability and confidence.

The opening track, “Tailspin” sets the tone for the EP an exploration of surrender and acceptance. Using the metaphor of an aircraft spinning out of control, the song turns chaos into catharsis, embracing uncertainty rather than resisting it. “Never Not To Know Each Other Again” follows with a heartfelt tribute to transformative friendship and loss. Written about three close friends she met at a songwriting retreat, the song honors van Kuyk’s late friend Anouk, whose creativity and warmth deeply shaped her artistic outlook. “Anouk taught me to trust my gut and believe in my music,” van Kuyk reflects. “This song is about how strangers can become family and leave a mark that changes your life forever.”

The title track, “Feels So Right” closes the EP with a message of confidence and creative freedom. It’s an anthem about tuning out external opinions and creating from intuition. “I’ve spent years listening to other people’s opinions,” says van Kuyk. “Now I just want to make music that feels right to me.”


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Photo - Bex Aston 
Alice Costelloe - Move On With the Year.

London singer-songwriter Alice Costelloe today announces her debut album 'Move On With The Year', out 6th February 2026 via Moshi Moshi Records. To mark the announcement, Alice is today sharing the album's title track 'Move On With The Year'.

Produced by Mike Lindsay (Laura Marling, LUMP, Anna B Savage) in his Margate studio, Alice Costelloe’s long-awaited debut solo album is a document of creative detangling and emotional repair; a fragile, fearless piece of art-pop that dismantles the noise of her past and rebuilds something startlingly intimate in its place.

Moving beyond the cool precision of her indie-rock roots, she and Lindsay shape a world of mellotron drones, fluttering flutes, warped synths and stumbling pianos - drawing influence from the work of Feist, Cate Le Bon, and Andy Shauf. Lead single 'Move On With The Year' acts as the album’s quiet manifesto - written through a series of “happy accidents” as Costelloe taught herself new instruments and followed instinct over perfection. Built around a looping piano motif and breathy woodwind lines, it captures the feeling of learning to live again through a love that doesn’t heal cleanly.

“Though it breaks my heart / to be so far,” she sings, “I move on with the year” - a refrain that feels both like a mantra and a wound. Elsewhere, she’s unflinching: “Tell your kids there’s nothing they can do / when you’re on that junk there is no getting through.” It’s familial grief rendered without sentimentality - just clarity, and an instinct for melody that makes the pain feel almost serene.


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Murkage Dave - Swordfight In A Chicken Shop.

Murkage Dave makes his striking return with ‘Swordfight In A Chicken Shop’, a vivid new single that captures the chaos and confusion of modern life. Produced by Tim London (Young Fathers), the track features vocals from Kayus Bankole (Young Fathers), Ellery James Roberts (WU LYF) and Lauren Auder, as well as Bournemouth Hope Youth Choir. The track comes alongside the announcement of headline shows in London and Manchester.

Driven by a brooding, pulsating rhythm, ‘Swordfight In A Chicken Shop’ mirrors the cacophony of everyday existence. In the song’s haunting chorus, Dave trades lines with a children’s choir chanting his name, questioning his state of mind. It’s both satirical and sincere, a snapshot of millennial struggle, battling intertwinning pillars of information overload, the horrors of the timeline and the broken social contract millennials have to navigate.

Of the track, Dave says: “It’s a song about what my life is like. In the street and on my phone. The promise of the nineties and the noughties never came true. But yet I’m still compelled to play the game.”

Beyond his songwriting, Murkage Dave continues to shape culture as a tastemaker. His Refuge Worldwide radio show, ‘The Outlet’, reconnects him with his DJ roots, blending his influences and unreleased songs from friends and collaborators. This instinct for curation has long defined him: from his cult Manchester club night Murkage Club, to Tonga, the raucous touring party he co-founded with friend and collaborator Mike Skinner.

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Moriah Bailey - Live at Factory Obscura.

Today, songwriter & harpist Moriah Bailey releases Live at Factory Obscura, a double single featuring full-band, live versions of "A Late Spring" and "The Ocean Life" from her 2022 release, i tried words. Recorded at the immersive artspace in OKC for their tour homecoming on June 13, Live at Factory Obscura offers renditions of each song fine-tuned on tour.

“When I played solo regularly, other musicians would sometimes comment on the open space in my songs. Of course, at times, silence is intentional, part of the song. But also, I hear rhythms, and I hear parts that aren’t being played. Now, playing with a full band, more of that is realized. And I really can’t express my gratitude to my bandmates for the creativity and thoughtfulness they bring to each song,” Bailey said. 

The tour brought the full band show to cities including Austin, Miami, St Louis, Chicago, Tulsa, and more, culminating in the homecoming show at Factory Obscura. 

“Factory Obscura is by far one of my favorite places to play in OKC. The space is a work of art and intention is placed on treating artists with care. Getting to share these live tracks feels especially meaningful because the recordings document our first-ever tour-homecoming as a full band in a place that I deeply value," Bailey said.


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Photo -  Fredrik Bengtsson.
Anna von Hausswolff - Aging Young Women (with Ethel Cain).

Renowned composer and musician Anna von Hausswolff has shared her gripping duet with Ethel Cain today. “‘Aging Young Women’ is about when the passing of time becomes a negative notion due to unfulfilled dreams and a feeling that a tainted situation is impossible to change to the contrary,” von Hauswolff states. 

“Aging Young Women” the last preview into her upcoming album Iconoclasts which sees its release this Friday, October 31 via YEAR0001. Produced by von Hausswolff and longtime collaborator Filip Leyman, the album is an unparalleled opus of stirring movement, anthemic ritualism, and maximalist composition, marking a new chapter in von Hausswolff's music and featuring appearances from Ethel Cain, Abul Mogard, Iggy Pop, Maria von Hausswolf in addition to a vibrant ensemble of musicians.    

von Hausswolff’s work carves out space for the celestial and the transcendent to enter into the modern world. Throughout the years, her sprawling releases have cemented her as an artist of unpredictable and vast creativity – always moving forward, always fusing tradition with experimentation in unimaginable ways. On Iconoclasts, her sound evolves again, bringing a poppier and more vibrant element to her moving songs.

Iconoclasts begins with brass heralding out, beckoning listeners into the boundless story that is about to unfold. From this, the groundwork is set for an album of blistering, mounting tension and hard-fought, euphoric release. Addressing themes of love, freedom, and autonomy, its title, Iconoclasts, hints at a shattering and reimagining of the sacred personal symbols that bubble under the surface of contemporary life: commitment, time, dependency, and belief.

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Wednesday, 24 September 2025

Brògeal - Alice Costelloe - Fast Money Music - Dancehall

Brògeal - Draw The Line.

Ahead of their debut album Tuesday Paper Club (out October 21 via Play It Again Sam), Brògeal share a new single "Draw The Line" - a tongue-in-cheek anthem about small-town ‘hard men' who think they run the place. Written with an Irish rebel feel, it evolved into a Libertines/The Clash-inspired track full of grit and melancholy. There's another four tracks from the album included in the selection below & all are in Beehive Candy's opinion absolutely worth a listen!

The Independent recently said of Brògeal (pronounced “Bro-gale”),they are a Scottish five-piece placing their proud heritage at the forefront of an emerging new rock scene. Significantly, they are a thrilling and important addition to a fresh wave of bands pushing back against the industry’s fixation on solo pop acts. 

In person and onstage, Brògeal are a much-needed blast of fresh air in a scene still in thrall to angsty singer-songwriters, and have already achieved a following despite having yet to release an album. 
 

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Photo - Bex Aston
Alice Costelloe - If I Could Reach You.

London singer-songwriter Alice Costelloe returns this week with the new single 'If I Could Reach You' - out now via Moshi Moshi Records. The new single marks Costelloe's first release since 2024’s acclaimed EP 'When It’s The Time'.

Produced once again by Mike Lindsay (Laura Marling, LUMP, Anna B Savage), 'If I Could Reach You' is set against a rich framework of gently warped electronics and fuzzy guitars - extending the sonic palette Costelloe and Lindsay began exploring on her 'When It’s The Time' EP - moving further away from her indie-rock origins into a more exploratory art-pop space.

The lyrics capture the aching tension of longing for someone you can’t quite reach - a love song in form, but directed at absence rather than romance, as Alice explains: “The song came from that feeling of trying to connect with someone who was always just out of reach. I wanted the production to carry that distance too. Mike and I even layered in the sound of a New Zealand busy tone as a kind of sonic metaphor. It’s funny and devastating at the same time, which is how that longing often felt.

"I listened to Andy Shauf’s ‘Norm’ a lot last year and really connected to it. There’s a track about desperately wanting to hear someone’s voice, even if you're just talking about the most mundane things - how comforting even that can be when you love someone. Now I’m reading reviews of ‘Norm’, I’m just realising it’s essentially a concept record about a stalker, but I guess I felt I could relate to the feeling of not being able to stop thinking about someone that is unreachable for you. He said about Norm, “I wanted to make love songs that were disconnected from romanticising love,” and I think I was unknowingly doing something similar, I was writing love songs that were mourning the loss of a familial relationship.
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Photo - Louis Gilbert
Fast Money Music - Round and Round.

American-born, London-based songwriter Fast Money Music has returned with new single and music video “Round and Round”, a taster from his upcoming self-titled debut.  

“Round and Round” is a cycle, a song, a feeling. Self-proclaimed “tough nostalgia,” it’s a brooding teaser from Fast Money Music’s upcoming self-titled debut LP. The track distills the jangle-pop charm of The Cleaners From Venus with the urgency of Guided By Voices, pairing shimmering guitars and melodic basslines with bittersweet vocals. It reflects on the looping pull of love and memory, setting the tone for the album’s sharp, introspective spirit.

Recorded between Hackney Road Studios and Fast Money Music’s own space in Dalston, “Round and Round” came together piece by piece across different sessions – a collage of fragments stitched into a track that feels both raw and refined. The track was produced by Grammy-nominated Mikko Gordon (Thom Yorke, Arcade Fire) and Nick Hinman, with mastering by Grammy-winning Matt Colton (Depeche Mode, Wet Leg, Arctic Monkeys). It also features drums from Oscar Robertson (SHOLTO) and backing vocals from Steffan Halperin (Klaxons). 

On the new track, Nick shares, “[It’s] about the feeling of being caught in loops – the ‘Groundhog Day’ of songs. Reliving the same phrases, the same moments, the same pull you can’t quite shake. Bittersweet but driving, it’s equal parts hopeful and yearning, anchored in this key phrase Mikko [Gordon] and I developed while working on the LP: tough nostalgia.” 


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Photo - Eddie Whelan.
Dancehall - Modern Age.

Today, Rotterdam/Kent based trio Dancehall have shared their new single 'Modern Age'. The single is the third to be taken from their forthcoming second album, 100% Music, which is due out on October 24th.

'Modern Age' is accompanied by a music video, directed by William Keeler and filmed around Dover and Folkestone. The video features Primal Runners, a local running club that includes asylum seekers and refugees from Gaza and Afghanistan, with whom singer Tim Smithen is directly involved. Their story unfolds against the backdrop of rising anti-migrant hostility in the UK, captured in the refrain “They’re coming to get you”, where right-wing rhetoric, fear-mongering, and flag-waving nationalism (depicted both across the country and in the video) are often masked as patriotism.

Of their new single, Smithen says: “This song covers some ground. From pollution to right-wing mob politics. Misinformation from mainstream media to the youth of today having to pretend to be something or someone different in order to ‘fit in’”

Dancehall have always existed in the margins: too spiky for pop, too self-aware for grunge. On their new album, singer/bassist Tim Smithen, guitarist Craig Sharp and drummer Dave Keeler double-down and sharpen their edges to deliver the band’s most dialed-in, deliberate work yet.


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Friday, 25 March 2022

Alice Costelloe - Niloo - Album Club - Charlotte Rose Benjamin - Nora Kelly Band

Alice Costelloe - California.

Having played in bands since she was 12 years old, London born musician and songwriter Al (Alice) Costelloe signed to Mute records at just 17 as half of shoegaze two-piece ‘Big Deal’. The band released 3 critically acclaimed albums, garnering enthusiastic support across British radio with multiple singles playlisted at BBC 6 music. Further to this, the inclusion of the duo’s song ‘Dream Machines’ on the soundtrack of blockbuster movie ‘Divergent’ helped deliver them to a wider audience, amassing 70,000 followers online and over 10,000,000 streams.

After years of international touring, supporting the likes of Depeche Mode and The Vaccines and appearing at festivals such as SXSW, NOS Alive and Reading & Leeds, Costelloe disbanded the band after a breakdown within the partnership made continuing impossible. Disillusioned with life on the road, and traumatized by the tumultuous relationship within the project, Costelloe suffered a crisis of confidence in her musical capabilities and was resolved to never write or perform again, taking up a job as a nanny instead. 

However, whilst walking back from a shift one night she chanced upon the members of ‘Superfood’ (Dirty Hit) outside a local bar who convinced her to not give up on music and to play bass with the group as they toured their new album. Encouraged by the band members, as well as her partner ‘VANT’ (Parlophone) who she also began to tour with, Costelloe began to consider creating her own music again and tentatively started work on recording home demos which form the basis of her upcoming singles.

 

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Niloo - All in the Name.

Niloo tells us 'All in the Name' is the sophomore single off of my self-titled EP, and it’s the follow-up to To Feel It Deep.

All in the Name is a mellow dream-pop track about the solitude, reflection and calm one often experiences after the ending of a turbulent relationship. It is about re-discovering yourself after the dust settles, taking stock of the lessons you have learned from past relationships and coming to some clarity about dynamics that you won’t accept in the future. The lyrics, along with the vocals and the musical arrangement of the song, create a mood that is soothing and bittersweet.

This peaceful little track was made in collaboration with the amazing folks at Risque Disque Studios in the summer of 2021. The dynamic percussion was created and tracked by Jen Yakamovich of Troll Dolly; equally melancholy and playful Wurlitzer was dreamed up and performed by Finn Smith; last but certainly not least, bass guitar, co-production and mix was done by Shilo Preshyon of Cartoon Lizard.

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Album Club - Different Hours.

Album Club are a band of creatives that initially gathered to discuss music in The Laurieston, an iconic Glasgow bar in 2019. The group was started by MJ McCarthy who brought friends together to dissect albums, track by track over drinks. This gathering then morphed into something more, and the band was born over lockdown in 2020. Although not all the members were musicians, an album emerged, something beautiful created in defiance of adversity. It is an album of friendship and community crafted by a group of people brought together by a love of music.

Album Club is made up of MJ McCarthy and Adam Scott of Zoey Van Goey, playwright Douglas Maxwell, actress and writer Isobel McArthur, novelist and playwright Cathy Forde, Rhona NicDhughaill of the Gaelic arts company Theatre Gu Leor, journalist Peter Geoghegan and Emma Pollock and Paul Savage of The Delgados. 

The album also borrows backing vocals and contributions from friends around the world. The album was recorded at Chem19 in Glasgow and is set to be released by Last Night From Glasgow on the 13th May 2022. The first single from the album, The Hard Part was released in January and has been played on Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio Scotland. Second single, Different Hours is released today 25th March.

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Charlotte Rose Benjamin - Slot Machine.

Brooklyn-based artist Charlotte Rose Benjamin has just released a new single “Slot Machine” from her forthcoming debut album, Dreamtina, which is set for release on April 22. The song pairs jaunty guitar hooks with Benjamin’s stream of conscious, lighthearted lyrics about unrequited love and the “inbetween” feeling of being a millenial/gen Z cusp. The video was shot by Benjamin and frequent collaborator, Hlif Olafsdottir, documenting a leisurely day on a Williamsburg Ferry, a Chinatown Arcade, a Dime’s Square dive bar and their favorite downtown karaoke spot.

Benjamin describes “Slot Machine” as a “Sunday-morning-strolling-through-a-New-England-Beach-town kind of song,” relating it to her hometown of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. “I think there’s a waspy country club vibe that comes to mind when people hear that I’m from Martha’s Vineyard,” explains Benjamin. “That definitely exists, but most people who are privileged enough don’t choose to live there in the off season. I always identified more with the towny girls from the movie Mystic Pizza. I had a wonderful childhood, but living on an island can be incredibly isolating. My music has changed so much since I left, but I think I’ll always have a little bit of a twang in my writing because of where I grew up.” On recording the video, Benjamin says “My best friend Hlif and I got day drunk and took the Williamsburg Ferry into Chinatown with a camcorder and a dream.”

Self produced alongside her bandmates, Nardo Ochoa, Matti Dunietz and Zoe Zeeman, Charlotte Rose Benjamin’s debut album finds her analyzing her identity in correlation to romantic relationships and in comparison to “Dreamtina,” a fictitious namesake for the effortlessly-perfect girl you see and aspire to be. Under the Radar broke the news of the album, premiering the pyromaniac-puppet-show video for her song “Satisfied,” calling the song “an irresistible power pop hook, paired with instantly quotable lyrics.”

Previously released songs, “Cumbie’s Parking Lot” and “Heat Stroke Summer,” were released as an a-side/b-side single last Summer, receiving praise from Clout Magazine, which called out Benjamin’s “acerbic wit and penchant for crafting fun and memorable indie rock tunes.” The Deli named “Heatstroke Summer” its Song of the Summer. Her songs “deep cut” and “Cumbie’s Parking Lot” were featured on Spotify’s Fresh Finds: Indie playlist for more than 10 weeks. Last week, Benjamin performed alongside Japanese Breakfast and Weyes Blood in The Unfinished Fest showcase at the acclaimed SXSW festival.

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Nora Kelly Band - Hymn for Agnostics.

What happens when a break-out post-punk artist runs smack into the big COVID slowdown? A gorgeous album’s worth of alt-country tunes of course. Say howdy to the Nora Kelly Band who now release their debut single, “Hymn for the Agnostics,.”

Pre-pandemic, the Nora Kelly-led band DISHPIT made Exclaim’s ‘Class of 2020 - Best New Band’ list in both Montreal and Toronto, and recorded their debut album DIPSHIT with Steve Albini. But when everything changed, so did Nora. She looked inward, asked hard questions about her relationships, and went to rock’s roots. Out poured tunes about love, independence, and checking into the Purgatory Motel. Last summer she and friends played her songs by railroad tracks that run by her Mile End neighborhood, and people flocked to sing along until the cops chased them off. Words spread, propelling The Nora Kelly Band to play rowdy gigs at Ursa and other Montreal venues.

Discussing “Hymn for the Agnostics”, Nora noted, “When I was 11, I had my first panic attack about my impending mortality. To calm myself I began praying to God every night, although who’s God, I couldn’t have told you. I wasn’t raised religious. In my adulthood the panic attacks have become less frequent, but my need for spiritual understanding has remained. ‘Hymn for Agnostics’ is for those of us who have no religion to lean on but who’s faith in the spiritual is supported in our connections with each other, the planet and ourselves.

I have experienced many moments that led me to feel there is some kind of design. Ghost sightings, the psychic connections between a parent and child or two best friends, DMT and the power to keep fighting when it’s easier to give up, have all played a part in my spirituality. Hopefully this song will play a part in yours.”

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Celestial Bums - The Brook & The Bluff - KiKi Holli & The Remedy - Cut Flowers - The Legal Matters

Celestial Bums - The Letters. Shoegaze warmth and dream pop elegance converge in Celestial Bums’ “The Letters” Barcelona’s Celestial Bums ...