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| Photo - Betsy Phillips |
Hannah Delynn, a Nashville-based vocalist/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist, independently released her debut full-length album, Trust Fall, yesterday September 5. Hannah’s ability and openness to view life from many perspectives result in songs that are emotionally engaging and compelling. This record is a testament to accepting self-responsibility and the myriad mixed emotions that entails.
Finding freedom through vulnerability, Delynn crafts heartfelt songs of hope and healing. “I write about matters of the heart and hope my words and songs bring you hope and healing and connect you with the beauty that is all around us—even when it feels difficult to see,” says Hannah. “This collection of songs honors a potent sea of change in my life and reflects a season of deep grief, loss, betrayal, and heartbreak, as well as beauty, love, generosity, and friendship,” says Hannah. “I have been learning how to more deeply trust myself, others, and the world around me. Life has a way of alchemizing pain and hardship into beautiful blessings and gifts, but it can feel like we’re first being melted down in the crucible or turned to goo in the chrysalis. Learning to ask for help and to summon both courage and surrender during those moments has been a vital, if uncomfortable, process, and these songs have come from that cauldron. They are soul-friends, catharsis, comforters, and companions.”
For as long as she can remember, Hannah has always loved words and stories, music, and adventures. Originally from Florida, she found her way to Nashville in 2013 by way of New Zealand, British Columbia, and Australia, gathering stories (soon to be songs) along the way. Hannah says, “I have now called Nashville home for over 11 years and have fallen deeply in love with this community. I owe so much to some dear friends who took me firmly under their wing and graciously showed me the ropes of Music City.”
Hannah continues, “Trust Fall was made with some of my favorite people on earth. We are close friends, and I think that’s what allowed for the depth of vulnerability. Each person made me feel so completely held and free to just ‘be,’ which allowed me to truly open up and allow the raw emotion of these songs into the performances.”
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Big Stir Records is proud to announce a new double-sided digital single from veteran LA psych-pop combo Shplang, coinciding with the long overdue debut of the band's entire back catalog on all digital streaming services worldwide. “Let's Get High (And I Could Be Your Man)”, a long-standing fan favorite, gets its first standalone release to celebrate the occasion, and it's paired here with the all-new B-side “Frankie's Back”.
Shplang, the LA-based brainchild of Peter Marston (vocals, guitars and more) and John Krause (bass, visuals) has been a mainstay of the city's guitar pop scene for over three decades, but much of their early work has been relegated to physical CD releases –until now. “Let's Get High (And I Could Be Your Man)” has long been a fan favorite at live shows and in its original appearance on the band's 2009 album MY BIG THREE WHEELER. That record now joins the band's full catalog of albums –the never-before-streaming JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF MIRTH(1995), SELF MADE MONK(1997) and AMERICAN CREAM(2000), plus the band's Big Stir Records output of the career-summarizing LOS GRANDES EXCRITOS 1994-2019and the subsequent career-rebooting THANK YOU, VALUED CUSTOMER(2023) marking the first time the entire Shplang oeuvre has been available to stream. And the tune that heralds the digital rollout is as emblematic of the ever-eclectic band's style as anything could be: Shplang is never predictable, but always effortlessly tuneful and lyrically sly.
The A-side is no exception. “'Let’s Get High (and I Could Be Your Man)' has a title that often raises both eyebrows and presumed comparisons to Jimmy Buffett’s 'Why Don’t We Get Drunk (and Screw),' but even a single listen will reveal that this comparison is well off-target,” says Marston. “It's actually deeply romantic—indeed, one of the most romantic songs Shplang has recorded. The singer, feeling stuck and without hope of reversing the course of his life, seeks not gratification or distraction, but connection and solace. He wants to belong to someone.” The songwriter adds, “In terms of production, the highlights are John Krause’s sliding bass, the melancholic baritone guitar riffs, and the Brian Wilson pastiche in the instrumental bridge. In earlier versions, the bridge had lyrics, but the piano arrangement seemed too good and the tribute to Wilson too lovely to not feature it in an instrumental section. Listen to Stack-o-Tracks and you’ll see why.”
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Award-winning, Cardiff-based artist, Ani Glass, launches her new album ‘Phantasmagoria’ on the 26th of September. What a journey to this moment. Fittingly, Ani’s debut LP ‘Mirores’ (translates as “observer”) was based around movement and progress. It was her first foray into the self-taught art of recording and production. Ani Glass has not stopped progressing or moving since.
Futuristic, fascinating pop. Ethereal vocals, lush instrumentation and swirling synth pulses echo early Goldfrapp or Enya, but this is all Ani Glass. Phantasmagoria's intricate, ethereal, expansive - and newly revealing with every listen.
Inspired by working with Martin Rushent as a member of indie pop group, The Pipettes, a strong pop sensibility was cemented as a member of the band, Genie Queen (managed by OMD’s Andy McCluskey). Additional inspirations included 1980s artists and producers Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and Arthur Russell (who inspired her to learn the cello).
At the start of 2020, just before the release of her debut album ‘Mirores’, Ani was diagnosed with a rare benign brain tumour. The diagnosis marked the beginning of the personal journey that has shaped ‘Phantasmagoria’. That final shape is a lush, introspective concept album that delves deeply into her experience of navigating life since then.
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Alpenstock - Little Bird.
Alpenstock from Biel (Switzerland) are making waves: just a few days ago, the eventful life story of their mastermind Charles de Ribaupierre was published in Bund, Berner Zeitung, Blick am Abend (Baz), and Tages Anzeiger, among others. In spring, he released a prog rock album with the band that has gained worldwide attention and continues to captivate critics and radio producers alike. Alpenstock has also been heard on major Swiss stations such as Radio Munot, Option Musique, the Rete channels, and countless others.
As a reminder: Charles de Ribaupierre must undergo dialysis three times a week due to complete kidney failure. A Parkinson’s disease has increasingly taken a strong grip on his body. Nevertheless—or perhaps precisely because of this—the Biel/CH-based singer and songwriter recorded all these magnificent prog rock tracks with renowned Swiss musicians. With his Alpenstock project, he now wants to encourage others who are affected.
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