Nadia Vaeh - Lizzie Esau - Birdtalker - Brion Starr

Nadia Vaeh - Leap of Faith.

 A messy and distressed apartment in Los Angeles provides the unique setting for the latest music video for the song “Leap of Faith'' by conscious pop singer and Atlanta native Nadia Vaeh releasing this Friday, September 24th, 2021. Filming for the music video took place in her actual apartment as she prepared to move back to her hometown of Atlanta. The video captures the story of her leap into the music industry while dropping everything she had to jump in her Toyota Corolla and move to Los Angeles.

Filmed entirely with a cell phone the music video also tells the story of her leap back to Atlanta. Images of Nadia packing, and labeling boxes surrounded by piles of clothing reveals a real story unfolding in real-time. “There is no better setting for this story in the real place where I lived, with the real mess I had when moving out”, states Nadia. “I was stressed, homeless and forced to move. There is no better imagery to depict the uprooting of my life than reality. The apartment was a mess because I was a mess.”

The uplifting and inspirational song for the video tells the story of Nadia’s journey from Atlanta to Los Angeles and back to Atlanta; a journey that started with quitting everything, living out of her car, and taking the chance in pursuit of a career in music. After working many odd jobs, including a stint in a local Atlanta circus, Nadia Vaeh’s frustration with her career boiled over to the point where she knew she needed to take her songwriting and melodic talents to a different level and go all-in with her career. “I knew I had songs in my head and stories to share that could help others. I was at a place in my life where I knew that I needed to take a chance on myself and pursue my dream even more so than I ever had.”, says Nadia Vaeh. “It was scary to leave all that I knew and move to a different city once, let alone twice.”

Co-starring in the video is Nadia’s Toyota Corolla “Pearl”. “My car Pearl took me from Atlanta to LA and back to Atlanta. This car has helped me achieve my dreams and without my trusty Corolla I would not be where I am today", states Nadia Vaeh.

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Lizzie Esau - Caffeine.

“Caffeine is about the struggle to justify the choices you make and feeling like you need to please others around you, but still having to validate your choices inside your own head. I wanted the song to build as it progressed and it was important to me to achieve a really big indie, raw /grungy sound. 

I love the song and feel Steve has really helped me achieve the energy and power it needed. This song feels so right for me right now, and I like that my writing is reflecting where I want to be musically”.  says Lizzie

Steve Grainger who produced the record.“I wanted to build on the idea from Lizzie's demo, accentuate the lyrical themes and create an organic but powerful production. Lazy beats, simple, strong guitar riffs and bass lines with some yacht-rock and 90s grunge touches if you know where to look”.

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Photo - Jeremy Cowart

Birdtalker - I Know.

Ahead of their anticipated sophomore effort (out 10/8 via AntiFragile Music), Nashville-based indie/folk group Birdtalker released today their new single "I Know." A defiant song about learning to trust your gut, the band called it "a broad-brush narrative about the experience of being shaped to believe that wonder and curiosity may be a threat, and the eventual realization that those qualities in fact have led to a more grounded and vital experience of being alive."

"It's a song about trusting the stomach, not necessarily the uncountable programmed stories and information we receive along the way," they continued. "It's a simultaneously tentative and certain exclamation that we will give ourselves permission to listen to those fundamental pricks of the heart, and trust they'll lead somewhere with integrity."

The new single follows several songs the band have shared from their forthcoming album, including the emphatic track "Taking Control," the breezy duet ""Tides," and "Old Sob Story," a rollicking song full of bravado and sass that Rolling Stone called "at times evoking the dramatic flair of the Decemberists' Colin Meloy, at others the bravado (and glammy tones of Marc Bolan." Lead single "Better Days" is also out now, a tranquil yet stirring song that finds the quintet reawakening and optimistically looking forward.

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Photo Edouard Plongeon

Brion Starr - A Night To Remember.

NYC-based rocker Brion Starr – otherwise known as musician Brian Hill – has shared the second blazing single and titular track (listen here) from the upcoming album A Night to Remember, along with an accompanying video. The album – produced by the legendary sonic mastermind Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex, Sparks) – marks Starr’s first music since the release of his 2020 sophomore effort, the aptly-titled 2020. Out November 19th via Taxi Gauche Records, A Night to Remember will be available as a 12” gatefold vinyl, CD, tape and digitally. 

Speaking on the origins of “A Night To Remember,” Starr writes: “The track is a reflection on what was going on last summer with the worldwide protests that were happening, reflected through the prism of American sentimentality. I love the piano in this track, very special. ‘A Night To Remember’ your life, the kind of night that surpasses anything you could have imagined. The kind of night where it feels like the whole world could change.”

On the inspiration for the video, Starr writes: “‘A Night To Remember’ is a dive into the subconscious. It is a sort of fever dream in the middle of the album’s trajectory. I’ve always been fascinated by mime, how it’s neutral nature exposes the depth of human emotion. I wanted to bring out my inner Marcel Marceau for this video.

We shot it in a place I grew up going with my friends, the East River Park Amphitheater. We still meet there once in a while. That place means a lot to me, the city is trying to develop the park right now. I hope they do not succeed in their plans, the NYC of my childhood disappears a bit more each day. Check out East River Park Action to help out in stopping them.”

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Wyndow - Seafoam Green - Birdtalker - Ewan MacFarlane

Wyndow - All Cameras Gone.

Ahead of the release of their eponymous debut album, Wyndow (Laura J Martin and Lavinia Blackwall) return with new single 'All Cameras Gone'. The songs on Wyndow exist in the space between waking and sleeping, hazy tales that unfurl and engulf the listener in a slightly uncanny sense of familiarity. New single, ‘All Cameras Gone’, is a paean to the dust and crackles of the analogue age and the shadows of a lonely projectionist leaving the booth and memories for the final time.

The project was ignited by a love of Robert Wyatt and an off-hand idea of collaborating on a version of his song ‘Free Will and Testament’. In a time of weird interludes, the self-examination of the song’s lyrics opened the pathway to themes examined throughout the record, that of being and wanting and the battle between knowledge and knowing. Who am I and do I see myself the way others see me?

What followed was an exploration of the uncertain and the impermanent.  According to Martin, they are “tunes for whacked out worriers lifting weights in the worry gym,” where “feeling uneasy never felt so easy." Reflections flit between two pendulums as the pair wrote and recorded remotely and exchanged these dog-eared musical postcards to see each others’ responses.  Eschewing the “band in a room” aesthetic out of geographical necessity they focussed on maximising the sonic palette of each song, doing exactly what each piece demanded without thinking about who had to play each instrument.

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Seafoam Green - Maggie.

Seafoam Green’s sophomore album ‘Martin’s Garden’ was released in June to huge critical acclaim including 8/10 from Classic Rock Magazine and a glowing 4-star review from MOJO who described it as ‘a near faultless album’.

Produced by Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Tyler Greenwell, the album is a colourful melting pot of Americana, rock, folk and psychedelia with Seafoam Green’s and own musical identity, by way of their Irish & Liverpool roots, fully stamped over it. The album is available to now on CD, vinyl or download here: https://www.diggersfactory.com/vinyl/240136/seafoam-green-martins-garden

Seafoam Green’s next single from the album, is perhaps the album’s most indie-pop leaning track. Shining electric guitar chords, emotive piano and Muireann McDermott Long’s stunning vocal set out a powerful ballad as the band ponder, “What if your love is not enough?”.

On the new single, the band said, “Maggie is based around the notion that just because someone loves you, it doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your own happiness to spare their heart. It's a song about new horizons; taking control of your situation and not looking back.”

If you weren’t aware of Seafoam Green yet, now is the time to get your ears on their music. Combining the best of the old with the best of the new, they are a quality outfit, serious about continuing to make a mark on the music world. ‘Maggie’ is yet another example of the band’s top notch songwriting, superb versatility and and why ‘Martin’s Garden’ has been so highly lauded.

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Birdtalker - Taking Control.

Nashville-based indie/folk group Birdtalker released their emphatic new single "Taking Control." The song is the latest peak at their forthcoming self-titled sophomore album (out October 8th via AntiFragile Music) and follow-up to their 2018 critically acclaimed debut One. With "Taking Control," Birdtalker kindly commandeer their instincts and shed their self-consciousness with driving bass, acoustic rhythms, and playful synth flourishes.

"It's a silly lil tune about codependence - moving from a place of caring more about how I am perceived to a place where I can rediscover what motivates me and what my instincts are," the band told The Boot, who featured the track. "I love how the chorus peeks out of the co-dependent headspace by starting with 'I hope you don't mind,' but finishes with 'I'm taking control of the skin I'm swimming in.' The bridge plays with timing and it feels like it reveals a bit of hesitation behind the lyrics."

"Taking Control" follows the release of the breezy duet "Tides" and "Old Sob Story," a rollicking song full of bravado and sass that Rolling Stone called "at times evoking the dramatic flair of the Decemberists' Colin Meloy, at others the bravado (and glammy tones of Marc Bolan." Lead single "Better Days" is also out now, a tranquil yet stirring song that finds the quintet reawakening and optimistically looking forward.

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Ewan MacFarlane - Underneath Your Spell.

When Ewan MacFarlane, the charismatic former Grim Northern Social frontman and long-time member of electro maestros Apollo 440, states “Its high time I stepped out and made the music I always needed to make,” then you’d better believe it, as he boldly embraces a whole new sound.

Following debut solo single ‘Stirrin’ In The City’, which picked up BBC Radio Scotland & Amazing Radio airplay, MacFarlane returns with second single ‘Underneath Your Spell’ out 10th Sept. Both tracks are standout works from MacFarlane’s superb forthcoming full-length album ‘Always Everlong’ due out October 29th. Whilst the trademark socially insightful lyrics and biting vocals of his previous recorded output remain very much part of the DNA, it’s safe to say that stylistically speaking, MacFarlane has mellowed; for he has spent the intervening time embracing his inner melodic troubadour, en-route to an uncharted destination. Sporting more than a touch of Americana in his new material, he honours the revered rock’n’roll songbooks of his songwriting heroes Bowie, Petty, and Springsteen.

Whilst the new songs may take inspiration from some legendary songbooks though, their origin remains, very much a thing of its time. Challenging himself mid lockdown to write and upload one tune per day to Youtube, the songs mostly tell tales of tension with pledges of eternal love.

‘Underneath Your Spell’ is a classic rock belter that brilliantly expresses the euphoria that love brings being captured underneath your lover’s spell. On the track’s themes MacFarlane says, “It’s both about a lust and love for life and for each other. It’s about endless boundaries, about taking the good with the bad, the happy with the sad, the laughter and the tears, but not least it’s about kicking down the walls of constraint and living life exactly how you choose. Free to be what you want to be without judgement.”

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Lore City - J.D. Wilkes & Legendary Shack Shakers w/Jello Biafra - Nelson Sobral - Tidal Wave - Kat Von D - Birdtalker

Lore City - Participation Mystique (Album).

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow never was. Move your piece around the board, sheath of the physical. Light the lamp within. Corral. Catch sight of a fireball careening across the sky, blazing. Something is on fire, and it’s coming down on us. Lull into the love that is afforded to you, lull into the lead of sleep, lull into the movies. 

Push, pull. Marching to our realizations, marching to work, marching to our resolutions. And you’re waiting, waiting for that call to come. Standing across from, standing next to, coming to a standstill. Earthly divide. The eternal afternoons, parallel. The moments when something moves closer. A phantom ship wafting, calling home across the water. Recreating the familiar, ancient original feeling. An expanse, cascading.

Queued up in a world of limbo and revolution, Lore City tunneled into new songs, finally sending Alchemical Task to press in the early summer days. By then, they were halfway through Participation Mystique. Original Feeling cleared the way, and by the time Buttons materialized with somber holiness, they knew it was finished. Another installment for the continuum, its contents esoterically encyclopedic.

Lore City is an American art rock duo formed in 2011 and currently based in Portland, Oregon. Band members include Laura Mariposa Williams (vocals, keyboard, guitar) and Eric Angelo Bessel (percussion, keyboard, guitar). They met in 2003 as peers in the College of Visual & Performing Arts at Syracuse University. Reconnecting years later, Laura and Eric formed Lore City in 2011 and married shortly after that.

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J.D. Wilkes & Legendary Shack Shakers w/Jello Biafra - Rawhide!

Twenty-five years. Two-and-a-half decades. A quarter of a century. A long time no matter what you are talking about. So it’s no surprise J.D. Wilkes wanted to celebrate that milestone for his band, the Legendary Shack Shakers.

Founder/frontman/multi-instrumentalist Wilkes decided the best way to commemorate a quarter century of making music with his band was — of course — by making more music. But like most long-lasting groups, the Legendary Shack Shakers have had a lot of band members come and go through the years. So a “family reunion” was planned, one that would host past members and the current lineup for celebratory recording sessions. The result is the group’s new full-length offering from Alternative Tentacles, Cockadoodledeux, due out October 8, 2021.

The title is a nod to the Shack Shakers’ 2003 album, Cockadoodledon’t. Though not their debut record, it was the one that broke the group to a wider audience. Its explosive collision of punk, blues and country was perhaps what made the Shack Shakers legendary.

Cockadoodledeux, however, is more singular in its focus. Wilkes had been yearning to set his rock ’n’ roll leanings aside and record something new. This time, instead of hopping genres as many of his albums do, Wilkes wanted to explore one genre alone. He wanted to just make a country-and-Western record.

“Our older albums jump around all over the place, genre to genre, styles that are almost diametrically-opposed even,” he says. “But this record jumps only within country music itself. It's a big-tent genre, really. It has all these little subgenres within it providing endless variety. From Western swing and rockabilly to spaghetti Western and bluegrass — and even Tex Mex.”

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Nelson Sobral - In The Middle Of The Night

Background from Nelson - I was down in Nashville writing, performing, and fired up after playing at The Bluebird when I had the riff for my gritty new single bouncing around in my head.

The lyrical slant for "In The Middle Of The Night" started to form as I wanted to share the experience with my wife who was back home in Toronto.

I'm a huge classic soul & country music fan, and this track hits the sweet spot.

This rockin' song is about those early days of dating when it feels like you're the only two people that exist. You keep it your little secret because you don't want anyone to know yet, so you hang out in the middle of the night when there's no one else around. – Nelson Sobral.

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Tidal Wave - Next Year.

Tidal Wave is a seven-piece art rock band known for their powerful soundscapes and diverse instrumentation.

Formed in 2018, the group met each other working and performing in the local live scene in Toronto. This eclectic group of songwriters was initially put together by guitarist and lead vocalist Connor Young who assembled guitarist Marco Carboni, guitarist and producer Marcus Retterath, drummer and keyboard player Mike Poisson, violinist and vocalist Joey Assaad, violinist Brittany Iwanciwski, and bassist Kyle Texiera.

Whether you are listening to their recorded or live material, the band meticulously layers it’s elements to give the music a full wall of sound with forward momentum. It is an ever present atmosphere composed of rich textures of guitars and synthesizers, with a delicate balance between soaring string lines and strong vocal melodies. The name of the band rather accurately depicts the overall tone of an unrelenting unstoppable force.

Tidal Wave evokes the melodic elements of indie rock bands like Arcade Fire, while creating compelling production-heavy ambient synth and guitar textures comparable to Godspeed! You Black Emperor and My Bloody Valentine. In 2020 they released their single “Our Silhouettes” on all streaming services and will be releasing their EP in the fall of 2021.

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Kat Von D - Fear You.

Gifted multi-hyphenate Kat Von D shares synthwave driven single ‘Fear You’. On the track, impassioned paranoia seeps through the cracks of her delivery as she details “being scared to let yourself fall in love,” bathed in a gorgeous retro soundscape laced with instantly recognisable 808 drums. Lyrically, the track explores trust, self-exploration and the concept of overcoming your inner fears when it comes to fully committing your heart to a loved one. Written with Linda Perry, the single was produced by Kat and her band members Gregg Foreman AKA Mr. Pharmacist (synth 1), Sammi Doll (synth 2) and Dave Parley (drums).

Talking about the track Kat says; “this was originally my favorite track. It still might be! I chose it to be the fifth song, because five is my favorite number. Lyrically, it’s about how you can’t lose if you don’t play. You’re so scared of taking the leap and trying, because you assume you’re going to fail. I was in a relationship where we were too scared to make it real. It was self-tormenting. You’re building it up to fall apart. You want to know someone wholeheartedly, but that would require you to get over your fear. You just won’t.”

The new cut follows on recently released singles, the driving darkwave laced ‘Enough’, the vulnerable synthwave slow jam, ‘I Am Nothing’, which found the talented artist at her most intimate and vulnerable, and the debut single ‘Exorcism’ - defined by Billboard as “a darkwave bop about love, loss and change” - which unveiled the album's recurring theme, in Kat’s own words; “‘Love Made Me Do It’ is a collection of all my hopeless romantic thoughts poured into one album.”

‘Love Made Me Do It’ sits at the core of Kat’s universe, proving that music is her first and strongest passion. Having been a classically trained pianist since her youth with a deep appreciation for music of all genres, Kat poured her soul into this long-awaited full-length debut album. The project features collaborators including Dave Grohl, Linda Perry, Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio), Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails), Ladyhawke and Charo.

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Birdtalker - Old Sob Story.

Nashville-based indie/folk group Birdtalker announced their anticipated sophomore album will release on October 8th through AntiFragile Music. The self-titled effort is the follow-up to their 2018 critically acclaimed debut One. With their new album, Birdtalker find solid ground and step into their own with their most confident and unrestrained set of songs to date. They also released today their new single "Old Sob Story," a rollicking song exemplifying the band's newfound creative freedom. Full of bravado and sass, it brazenly marches into new distortion-soaked sonic territory.

"'Old Sob Story' is about getting out of the head and into the body and a deeper sense of knowing," stated the band. "It feels like an echo of 'Heavy,' but instead of being sensitive and melodramatic, we're very open-handed and unabashed, almost silly. Lyrically, it's got a 'I'm tired of myself' vibe; just done with the old and ready for the new."

Fronted by couple Zack and Dani Green, along with Brian Seligman (guitar), Jesse Baker (bass), and newcomer Chris Wilson (drums/percussion), Birdtalker explore how to navigate the unknown, embrace uncertainty, and learn to let go. With the unexpected success of their 2017 breakout single "Heavy" (now over 80 million streams), the band had to write, record, and release their first album with a sense of urgency. The whirlwind debut (which garnered acclaim from Rolling Stone, NPR Music, Billboard, World Cafe, American Songwriter, and Relix among others) led to non-stop touring, festival appearances, and even their debut performance on the world famous Grand Ole Opry.

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Midweek With: Shane Scheib - Fresh Snow - Brooklyn Doran - Alex Bent + the Emptiness - Birdtalker

Shane Scheib - Run! (Radio Version).

Background promo - Shane Scheib is an indie artist based in Nashville, Tennessee. His music expertly blurs the lines between the energy of alternative rock and the verve of indie-pop.

A creative and forward-thinking performer, Shane is known to produce music with an open heart and an open mind, bridging the gaps between clever arrangements and emotional lyrical wit. His distinctive guitar playing is also the result of lots of labour and dedication: when he was 13, Shane fell in love with the mastery and incredible ability of Stevie Ray Vaughn. He watched the bluesman's legendary live performances on video repeatedly, eventually mastering the blues and rock formula. Later, he took it to the next level as a trained jazz guitarist with a versatile mindset, incorporating influences as diverse as folk, pop and rock into his music.

Shane Scheib’s music is a lot like his humor: it’s witty, playful, and a little introspective at the same time. In his own words, “Fast Friends sounds like Bono Imagined Dragons while playing guitars that had White Stripes and Silversun Pickups; it was Fun.”

One of the most striking and endearing features of Shane's sound is definitely his ability to create songs that are challenging and diverse, yet extremely catchy and easy to relate to for a broad palette of listeners.

Shane's upcoming EP, "Fast Friends", will be released on September 13th, and it will be available through iTunes and Spotify.

First track on the new EP 'Fast Friends' the song 'Run' gives you a good idea of what's in store. Musically it leans more towards, energetic indie rock, with one or two more pop influenced moments. There are plenty of hooks and Shane has an ear for melody, that keeps everything quite accessible, without being to format driven. Overall it's a pleasing EP.

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Fresh Snow - I Can't Die.

Background - Fresh Snow, an acclaimed instrumental kraut-noise-psych rock quartet, are back with their second full-length album, ‘ONE’. Recorded with Graham Walsh, in a rural Ontario barn, ‘ONE‘ arrives less than a year after their 2015 EP ‘WON’, via Hand Drawn Dracula (Beliefs, Doomsquad, Etiquette) on September 9th, 2016.

With ‘ONE’, Fresh Snow pushes their own boundaries further than ever, creating something more confrontational, yet more accessible, than anything they’ve done before. The band describes ‘ONE’ as an album that is both structured and instinctual, made without ego or fear of alienating its listeners. Noise and texture is always prevalent, however minimalism is newly explored in places throughout the album, alongside electronic treatments, and English / French vocals.

After a split 7″ with SubPop artists Metz (2012), Fresh Snow earned critical acclaim with their 2013 debut album, ‘I’, and landed on the cover of Now Magazine, as well as being listed for the esteemed Polaris Music Prize, and making numerous year end best of lists. Brooklyn Vegan described Fresh Snow’s music as “mutant, motorik psych,” which the Toronto Star’s Ben Rayner also called “transcendental” and “overwhelming in the best sense possible.”

Fresh Snow’s inventive live shows – performances within pods or around projection screens, leading audiences from one room to another mid-show – are legend to those already in-the-know. They’ve performed alongside groups as diverse as Atlas Sound, Tim Hecker, The Pop Group and Ratking, as well as forming a one-off blisteringly loud band with Metz (FrETZ).

As Fresh Snow continue their journey through the ROYGBIV colour wheel – ‘I’ is red; ‘WON’ is orange; and ‘ONE’ is a yellow cover, the distinctive sonic elements that are the band’s trademarks continue to evolve, strengthen and feedback. ONE is filled with dissonance, stillness, intrigue and molten noise, as Fresh Snow continue to look for the beauty that is found in extremes.

Tour Dates:
Sept 10 Hamilton, ON - Supercrawl Festival
Sept 22 Toronto, ON - Ontario Place - Small World Fest 

'I Can't Die' is one of nine tracks from the 'ONE' album, and is something of a mini epic in it's own right. The album is a fascinating collection of instrumental pieces, with an almost constant theme, in that you just do not know what's gonna come next. Part experimental, the band move from kraut rock to more psychedelic moments, sometimes full on noise rock, and yet everything flows and the melodic moments are just wonderful. Highly creative and enjoyable.

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Brooklyn Doran - The Villain.

Background - The lyric video was shot entirely at the Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto and was created using a series of cinemagraphs. The video team partnered with Flixel to bring these still images to life. The video was filmed by the incredible team at Public Space Productions. "The Villain" comes from Brooklyn's new album “These Paper Wings”. Out September 9th.

“The Villain” captures the idea of regaining strength and power in a situation where I felt trapped and silenced. As women we are often taught to take full responsibility for uncomfortable situations we find ourselves in regardless of whether we have control or agency within them. When a toxic or abusive relationship breaks down- there are a lot of complicated feelings that come with it. With this song, I wanted to express all of those different angles, but most importantly I wanted to tell a story that presented strength and the ability to overcome. I am not only writing for me here; I am also writing for the startling number of women in my life who I know can relate. Through the lyric video, I wanted to showcase imagery that made me feel strong and powerful, but beautiful at the same time. - Brooklyn Doran.

'The Villain' is the second song we have featured from Brooklyn Doran in recent months and it is another engaging song from the debut 7-track album "These Paper Wings" released in September 2016. Full of melodic numbers and the beautiful vocals of Brooklyn, it's a collection of thoughtfully written material, where the attention to detail ensures seven very individual and absorbing tracks.

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Alex Bent + the Emptiness - Paper Mask '16.

Background - Alex Bent is a 22 year-old singer-songwriter from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Emptiness is Bent’s musical expression. Alex Bent is the Emptiness and the Emptiness lives in him. Far from being a blank void, the Emptiness is vast, expansive, textured and nuanced. Intoxicated on emotion, earnestness, longing and poignancy, Alex Bent + the Emptiness are distinctive yet inseparable parts of a whole.

The album was written at a time where he chose to be reclusive out of fear of being hurt or humiliated. He found comfort in creating songs that took the stories he saw in his head and painted them into reality. Alex hopes others may listen and find a similar escape within these songs.

Taken from the new album "Dead, In The Water", 'Paper Mask '16' is the opening track, and as I was not sure which one to feature, it seems a good enough starting point for Beehive Candy. Alex describes his music as "Dark Piano Pop" and in those three words he pretty much sum's the new album up. Deep and sometimes emotional material, may sound like hard going, however the pop element really does lift the material up enough, through melody, a good choice of additional sounds, and a gentleness that soothes. In fact it is because of that, I find myself dipping back into the album, to enjoy a little escape of my own.

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Birdtalker - Graveclothes.

Background - Nashville alternative group Birdtalker has announced it will support The Saint Johns on tour this September. As a duo, Zack and Dani Green of Birdtalker will kick off the tour in Birmingham, AL on 9/7, and close out the shows on 9/30 in St. Louis, MO. See above for a full list of dates.

This tour follows the release of Birdtalker's debut EP, Just This, which was released on 8/19. The Wild Honey Pie premiered the EP, saying that even when the band, "...delve[s] into more uncertain and strained subject matter, they’ll still remind you to 'put what’s heavy behind' and that we 'don’t need no mournful sounds.' Simply put, you feel lighter by the end of this EP than before you began listening."

A few months after marrying, the band’s founders Zack and Dani Green began writing songs together. Neither had pursued music before, however, after finishing their first song together, each felt an electric surge and from that point on there was no turning back. Friends in Nashville began to take notice of the duo’s original tracks, and Birdtalker quickly grew into a five-piece ensemble. Just This EP reflects different themes of adulthood, touching on the evolution of the pair’s marriage, to prioritising what is most important in one’s life.

The six-song EP was recorded in Nashville at Glass Onion Recording Studio with co-producers JD Tiner (Erin Rae) and Dan Fernandez (Great Peacock). In its brief time performing together as a band, Birdtalker has had notable appearances in Nashville opening for The Strumbellas, Escondido, and Marc Scibilia.

Announcing their tour dates seems a reasonable enough excuse to feature another song from Birdtalker's new EP and this time it's 'Graveclothes'. Another reason is the fact that all six songs on the EP are just so good!

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Genre Wander: Wildhoney - Birdtalker - Eight Bit Tiger - Georgia Ruth - Katie Burden

Wildhoney - Horror Movie.

Background - Four great bands, two great labels and two continents meet on this stellar mini-LP. Frequent collaborators Slumberland Records and Fortuna POP! team up to bring you 'Continental Drift,' a smashing eight song sampler of some of the finest pop out there in 2016.

Baltimore's Wildhoney have been making music together since 2011, forging a fresh sound from raw materials of shoegaze, punk and good old indiepop. 2015 saw the release of their debut LP and follow-up EP, and now we've snagged two top-quality exclusive tunes for this compilation.

'Continental Drift' is out August 26 [pre-order] featuring tracks from Wildhoney, Mercury Girls, The Spook School & Tigercats.

Wildhoney Tour Dates:
7/15 Boston, MA @ The Democracy Center w/ Literature, Bent Shapes
7/16 Philly, PA @ PhilaMoca w/ Literature, Hurry, Free Cake for Every Creature
8/12 Raleigh, NC @ Ruby Deluxe w/ Jenny Besets and Essex Muro
8/13 Atlanta, GA @ Wrecking Ball Fest w/ L7, Deerhunter, Ceremony, Turnover and more
8/14 Richmond, Va @ Gallery 5 w/ Big Baby and Christi
8/26 Baltimore, MD @ The Crown w/ Soul Cannon, Creepoid, Flasher and Shinji

'Horror Movie' is a nice slice of dreamy indie pop. It's one of two songs on the forthcoming "mini sampler" album, and considering who they are sharing space with, this could well be a pretty special collection of songs.

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Birdtalker - Heavy.

Background - Nashville alternative group Birdtalker has released its debut single, "Heavy," and announced the release of its debut EP, Just This.

Since releasing on June 24, "Heavy" has amassed over 240k streams at Spotify, debuting at #19 on the Global Viral Chart, and #26 on the U.S. Viral Chart. "Heavy is about embracing vulnerability and choosing to act from a place no longer tethered to resent, doubt, or insecurity," reflects Birdtalker's Zack Green. "It’s about choosing to live from a place of acceptance and peace over fear." The group's debut six-song EP, Just This, was recorded in Nashville at Glass Onion Recording Studio with co-producers JD Tiner (Erin Rae) and Dan Fernandez (Great Peacock), and will be independently released on August 19.

Birdtalker began with Zack and Dani Green, a newlywed couple, writing a few songs together in their spare time. Friends in Nashville began to take notice, and the duo quickly grew into a five-piece. In its brief time performing together Birdtalker has had notable appearances opening for The Strumbellas and Escondido. Looking ahead, the band will announce an EP release show in Nashville in support of Just This EP. 

'Heavy' is the single release and the second track out of six on the forthcoming EP. This is a fabulous song, with stand out harmonies and a beautifully delivered soundtrack. Powerful and emotional alt rock, the EP is keenly awaited.

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Eight Bit Tiger - Move Dance Feel

Background bio - “We don’t do things the easy way” is somewhat of an understatement for the intercontinental electronic band Eight Bit Tiger. With their new record Move Dance Feel, the band has shown that making a great album is no longer constrained to physical proximity, but can be accomplished in the cloud.

Inspired by the funk band Chic and pop legend Michael Jackson, Eight Bit Tiger has taken a strong influence from the annals of music history. The band’s sound is a mixture of 70s funk and 80s inspired electropop combining signature bass lines with vintage synth sounds.

Eight Bit Tiger was formed in 2011 in Chicago, USA by the Widman brothers Erik and Kent who were at the time transitioning from their indie rock roots. Following great praise of their debut album, the band changed course when Erik moved to Stockholm, Sweden in 2012. Determined to keep the music alive, the brothers built two recording studios in their respective apartments 6888 kilometers apart (for American readers, that’s 75328 football fields). The music had now left the physical plane and entered the digital cloud. Sonic experiments and song ideas were sent back and forth, like synapses between neurons, ultimately leading to the creation of Move Dance Feel, three years in the making.

The new album harkens to an era of high tops, colorful leg warmers, and dreams where anything was possible. Simultaneously, the human factor is counterbalanced by a glimpse into the sonic future from a 80s perspective, where robots have taken over and created a sound of their own. While the band’s previous release Parallel Synchronized Randomness sounded more like a rock band wading into the shallow end of the electronic music pool, Move Dance Feel, is a synth-heavy swan dive into the deep end.

Well if the song 'Move Dance, Feel' has done anything for me, it's made me feel younger than I am. It's one of seven sonic delights that ooze retro sounds, thanks to the vintage synths in part, but mainly due to the infectious enthusiasm behind each song.

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Georgia Ruth - The Doldrums.

Background - Welsh singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Georgia Ruth has announced a new album Fossil Scale, due for release on October 7, 2016 via Navigator Records. The record is the follow up to 2013’s Welsh Music Prize winning Week Of Pines - a feat Georgia never contemplated she’d achieve for her critically acclaimed, bilingual debut album. The record prompted The  Guardian to tip her as ‘One of the British folk discoveries of the year’, with Georgia going  on to be twice nominated in the 2014 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, alongside radio support across Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music. UK live dates to support the release of Fossil Scale are expected to be announced shortly.

Switching out her previous go-to writing tool - the harp - for a piano in search of a more expansive yet ambient sound, Georgia headed into the familiar setting of Snowdonia’s Bryn Derwen Studio in January 2015, to lay down the foundations of what would become Fossil Scale. When the sale of the studio just 5 days into recording threw plans awry, recording time was then split between studios in London and Cardiff – in the case of the latter, at friends and collaborators Manic Street Preachers’ Faster Studios (Georgia sung on ‘Divine Youth’, a track that featured on the Manics’ Futurology album). The album was finally pieced together in Mwnci Studios, co-produced with Italian producer Marta Salogni (Phil Selway, Eliot Sumner) and long-time collaborator David Wrench (Caribou, Bat For Lashes) some 11 months after those initial sessions began.

'The Doldrums' is a such a wonderful song. The gentle understated musical soundtrack, has glimpses of it's own beauty, and provides the perfect foundations for Georgia Ruth's exquisite vocals. The album Fossil Scale is released on October 7 via Navigator Records, definately one for the must have list.

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Katie Burden - I Can See It Clear.

Background bio - Katie Burden’s stylized atmospheric rock and shamanistic delivery often conjure up the ghost of Jim Morrison but in a modern context, falls somewhere between Bat for Lashes and Joan As Police Woman.

After being raised in a small hippy town in Colorado, Burden spent her formative years bouncing around NYC and later San Francisco. In 2012 she moved to LA and after attending a meditation retreat, synchronistically fell in with a group of blue chip musicians including drummer/producer Norm Block (Mark Lanagan, Sweethead and Jenny Lee of Warpaint) and guitarist Jen Turner of Here We Go Magic and Exclamation Pony.

Katie happened to have hundreds of song sketches recorded as voice memos on her phone and after she played them for her new friends there was no looking back.  Block stepped into the role of producer while Turner helped flesh out the recordings that became Burden's debut EP My Blind Eye. The 5 song set was released on Norm’s Cautionary Tail label and was met with critical kudos from Buzzbands LA, Impose and a video premiere on USA Today who noted the debut had a “mysterious, experimental appeal.” The EP also made a fan of Jenny Lee (Warpaint) who asked Katie to sing backup vocals on her newest LP right on!

Katie toured My Blind Eye up and down the West Coast, being welcomed into major musical hotspots including The Deer Lodge in Ojai, Hotel Utah in San Fran and El Cid back in LA where she opened for Jenny Lee. Upon her return she felt pulled back into the studio where she began tracking her follow up full length, Strange Moon, with her now tightly-knit band of collaborators. The dark and moody undercurrents of the new material called for Burden to dig deeper into her emotional well, something that she struggled with when performing the songs. “I have a hard time feeling emotions sometimes” the songwriter notes. “Art makes me less afraid to feel and also less alone.”

'I Can See It Clear' is from the forthcoming album Strange Moon, that is being released via Cautionary Tail on September 16. The featured song has a very haunting alternative feel to it, making it difficult to catagorize in any one genre. The above bio's decription of the music being akin to "Bat for Lashes and Joan As Police Woman" becomes apparently clear as the song progresses. Whatever... it's a must play again (and again) song for me.


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