'More of Me' from Lydia Persaud is soulful, lively and a bit of a rocker along the way. Our second song feature for Elva ahead of their 'Winter Sun' album release is 'Ghost Writer' another piece that ups the anticipation even more. Alana Wilkinson's 'Partner In Crime' put simply is a gorgeous modern folk song. Peter Cat Recording Co, might have a fabulous band name, however 'Floated By' is a stunning song that exudes quality and beauty as does the accompanying video. Just over a month since we first featured Junodream they return with 'Odd Behaviour' a natural alt rocker that is laden with hooks throughout. Merival shares 'I With Mine' an intimate folk song where emotion and fabulous vocals are centre stage.
Lydia Persaud - More of Me.
A fixture of Toronto’s music community and a sought-after collaborator, Lydia Persaud stands alone with her debut album Let Me Show You, due out on May 10 via Next Door Records. On 'More of Me', Lydia explains "There is personal frustration in “More of Me” while wrestling with trust issues and the feeling of being emotional unavailable in relationships."
Exposed to music from a very young age, Lydia’s early influences sprang from the gospel styles of her religious upbringing. “Unpacking the last 24 years of my life as I grew up in church is an ongoing journey. I was sheltered in many ways, through homeschooling (grade 2-5) and extreme involvement in my church. At the same time I was introduced to the concept of singing for a greater purpose than that of fame and glory. Music was for God and for giving thanks, a foundation that I am grateful for to this day. Removing the ego and vanity in music and giving back, connecting, and sharing relatable stories is how I have grown from these early experiences.”
It wasn’t until Lydia stumbled across a cassette that she was exposed to soul music. “My first introduction to soul music was through one of my early tapes, VH1 Divas Live. It was a live performance taping with Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Carole King and Gloria Estefan. I so wish that Whitney had performed as that would have covered all of my favourite vocal queens.” The vocal skill of these icons drew Lydia in to explore the soul genre. This influence ultimately reached into the recording studio where Lydia created Let Me Show You. “Soul music has always affected me the most, a soulful conviction on matters of the heart. Voicing struggle or sharing joy and celebration has always been my favourite method of expression.”
Lydia’s sound expands the boundaries of soul to include both folk and jazz, styles that have been foundational to her musical growth. Lydia attended the rigorous jazz program at Humber School of Music, where she won the Oscar Peterson Jazz Award and connected with fellow members of the folk trio The O’Pears, whom she has been collaborating with for the past 5 years. Working in these styles honed Lydia’s mastery of sophisticated vocal harmony and blend, leading her to become an in-demand vocalist. She has performed with a varied range of artists such as Jill Barber, Lee Fields, and Royal Wood, and is a member of renowned cover band Dwayne Gretzky.
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Elva – Ghost Writer.
Elva shares new single "Ghost Writer" from forthcoming debut LP, "Ghost Writer" is about adjusting to life as a new parent. Elva is the new project of Allo Darlin’s Elizabeth Morris and Ola Innset, of the Norwegian bands Making Marks and Sunturns.
Winter Sun was recorded in the autumn of 2018 in an old school house in the Swedish forest, during moose hunting season. Meaning ”The River” in Norwegian, Elva take their inspiration from the natural world, the beauty of the Scandinavian summer and the harshness of the winter. Several of the songs on the album are tellingly inspired by the birth of Elizabeth and Ola’s daughter.
Some might feel the album is sonically most similar to the Allo Darlin’ album Europe, thanks in part to the lush string arrangements courtesy of long-time Allo Darlin’ collaborator Dan Mayfield on violin and cellist Ofelia Østrem Ossum. Michael Collins, who played drums in Allo Darlin’, recorded and produced the album, building on work he has done in recent years with artists like Metronomy and Girl Ray. Diego Ivars on bass and Jørgen Nordby on drums round out the band.
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Alana Wilkinson - Partner In Crime.
Alana Wilkinson is the epitome of a modern folk singer, and her touching new single ‘Partner In Crime’ wholly attests to that. Having made a mark with her giddy love bubble ‘Closer’, Alana's sophomore release, premiered on Double J's Stir It Up, now tugs at heartstrings in a different way, with a true tale of love and loss.
A poignant ode to her childhood bestie who sadly passed away, ‘Partner In Crime’ captures the spirit and carefree nature of youth and innocent friendship. Delicately crafted with a vulnerable folk twang, the acoustically driven track resonates with delicate guitar melodies, piquant piano tones and deep, vibrant drums. A toast to the time they shared, rather than the time lost, Alana explains, “I needed to write a song that painted a picture of the colourful friendship we shared as kids.”
The track’s visual accompaniment embellishes this masterfully. Taking us back to Alana’s childhood home, we follow the duo on their adventures in Melbourne suburbia in a wonderfully joyful coming-of-age piece. "We knew each other's secrets, fought over nothing, wrote rap songs and made up dances to 5ive; these were some of the memories I called upon when putting together the video,” Alana reflects.
Having seeped into the soundscape of the Australian Summer through radio and television across the country, her debut single ’Closer’ was instantly added to ABC Local Radio nationally, and scored spins on both triple j, triple j Unearthed and rage.
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Peter Cat Recording Co. - Floated By.
Peter Cat Recording Co. have announced their debut album, ‘Bismillah’ for release on June 7, 2019 via French independent label Panache Records. With debut UK live shows soon to be announced by the band, the album release details arrive alongside ‘Floated By’, the first track to emerge from ‘Bismillah’.
Taking their enigmatic name from Haruki Murakami’s jazz club in Tokyo, Peter Cat Recording Co. trade in a kaleidoscopic blend of gypsy jazz, psychedelic cabaret, space disco, bossa supernova, Bollywood and uneasy listening. It’s an unlikely but masterful balance which makes the New Delhi five piece every inch the sonic anomaly in their hometown as how they read on paper. The band beguiled and frustrated in equal measure in 2018, with the release of ‘Portrait Of A Time 2010-2016’, an anthology album which gathered together re-mastered versions of various hidden gems from the band’s ramshackle back catalogue, previously recorded in the living room of frontman Suryakant Sawhney. Whilst the title track found its way onto Tracks Of The Year lists at the Guardian & NME, it was tricky to get a firm grip on the five piece who - despite hailing from the Hindi-speaking capital of India - emerged sounding like a twenty first century big band reboot.
Whilst 2019 will see Peter Cat Recording Co. make their overdue debut proper, the first early taste of ‘Bismillah’ finds them in no less inscrutable, bewildering form than across the snapshot captured on ‘Portrait Of A Time’. A musing on missed opportunities & the brevity of life punctuated by fulsome brass and offbeat surges of synths, the languid quality to ‘Floated By’ is offset by the attendant music video, created with footage shot, implausibly enough, at Suryakant’s own wedding ceremony. Speaking about the video - which he also co-directed - he dryly notes; “Hopefully it’s not a many-a-times-in-a-lifetime event. You put all this money into making the place look nice and you can’t fake that set, you can’t fake those people actually having a good time and people being really emotional and having an intense time.”
Colour-saturated, dawn-to-dusk footage of the drinking, dancing & traditional rites that typify Indian ceremonies cuts against Suryakant’s unhurried croon - one you’d be forgiven for misplacing as that of a Westerner in the finest Sinatra tradition - which actually freights the neuroses of regret and longing. It’s this startling push/pull - between the immediate, uncanny music Peter Cat Recording Co. are creating and the cultural backdrop of New Delhi at which it is so startlingly at odds - which promises to make ‘Bismillah’ a vital debut. The technicolour album cover - capturing Suryakant’s father-in-law making his wedding toast, alongside the band’s name written in both English & Hindi - casts a backwards nod to the cover for ‘Portrait Of A Time’, itself a black & white image taken at the wedding ceremony of Suryakant’s father.
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Junodream - Odd Behaviour.
Bristol born, and now London based band Junodream have released their new single 'Odd Behaviour'. The "wry sequel to [previous single] Terrible Things" as they put it themselves, the track examines exactly how bad people can get when communication between two people breaks down. "It’s not easy realising you’re in the middle of something rotten, especially when you don’t know what the problem is. Eventually you find yourself drifting away from someone you care about and the behaviour that comes to the surface can be kind of messed up," they went on to say.
Another potent, 90's tinged indie rock track; driven by a stomping rhythm section and soaring guitar passages, 'Odd Behaviour' slowly builds to an almighty crescendo with frontman Ed Vyvyan proclaiming, "I don't think it's getting better / and I don't know if it needs to anyway".
Speaking a little more on the lyrics in the new track, the band said: "The lyrics are somewhere between guilty and furious; it’s about something that should never have happened in the first place. The issues in Terrible Things get out of hand and things take a turn for the worse."
Taking subtle inspiration from artists such as Beck, Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Pavement - the band have undergone many transformations over the years; recently "evolving into our superior form", as the band succinctly put it. That superior form is Junodream.
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Merival - I With Mine.
Torontonian singer-songwriter Anna Horvath draws inspiration from tension, gathering from the romantic and familial with practiced vulnerability.
She's just released a new song ahead of her debut full length which is due out this summer. "I With Mine" is full of folk lyricism, experimental instrumentation, and a sweeping dynamic vocal range.
Merival is Torontonian singer-songwriter Anna Horvath, drawing inspiration from tension and gathering from the romantic and familial with practiced vulnerability.
She gained recognition in 2016 with the critically acclaimed EP Lovers and will release her debut full-length in summer 2019. Her songs carry questions, exploration, and an expectation of philosophical growth.
Full of folk lyricism, experimental instrumentation, and a sweeping dynamic range, she strives to make sense of the key arresting moments of life.
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Showing posts with label Elva. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elva. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 April 2019
Saturday, 2 March 2019
Paper Cameras - Elva - Eyreton Hall
Paper Cameras share some rich and powerful alt rock with 'We Hear Your Name' ahead of their new album due in a few days. The duo Elva are an absolute delight, we've featured Allo Darlin in the past and Elizabeth Morris's vocals can once again charm us as does Ola Innset with his pristine musicianship. Eyreton Hall provide us with a melodic and beautiful song that is steeped in folk sensibilities and crafted to a very high standard.
Paper Cameras -We Hear Your Name.
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 a Tascam 8 track cassette recorder and began new material with longtime friend, Portland musician Nathan Junior(Dandy Warhols, The Early Stuff, M. Ward, Duover, Sea Wolf) and artist and taxidermist Little Debbie Bartling sharing time behind the mic with Nathan Junior. The result was The Easy Wolves Sessions, a lo-fi mix of bubblegum psych pop. Later, in 2016 Nathan Junior and Carothers recorded the E.P. Mars Was Yesterday with producer Adam Selzer (Decemberists/Peter Buck/M. Ward/ Fleet Foxes) at Type Foundry Studios where Carothers’ vision began to take on an identity reflective of the kind of alchemy that comes from friendships and like minded musicians, highlighting the strength and creativity of each member.
Carothers, a native Tennessean, had known Tripp Lamkins (The Grifters/Dragoon) since the early days of famed the Memphis band The Grifters. Upon hearing about the Paper Cameras project, Tripp made his way to Portland, OR to record at Jackpot Studio with Tape Op founder Larry Crane (Elliott Smith/Sleater Kinney/ Go-Betweens/Thermals). They began tracking with no band rehearsal and recorded the record in just only two days. With rhythmic complexity and blended harmonies, the outcome is reminiscent of a lower-fi New Pornographers, Wedding Present, with hints of later Royal Trux. Larry Crane’s honest straight-ahead production style anchors the songs and would easily be in step with fans of Summer Cannibals.
This collaboration of veteran musicians came together more smoothly than they ever could have imagined. After the songs were instrumentally framed, Carothers brought painter Michelle Anne Muldrow to sing with Nathan Junior. The result became the EP Painted Light, due out in the fall of 2018 on No Night Travel. Painted Light floats within sonic range between 90’s garage influenced rock and inventive, harmony-laden 80’s power pop.
Look out for the Painted Light EP out March 8th on No Night Travel Records.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elva - Athens.
Elva is the new project of Allo Darlin’s Elizabeth Morris and Ola Innset, of the Norwegian bands Making Marks and Sunturns.
Winter Sun was recorded in the autumn of 2018 in an old school house in the Swedish forest, during moose hunting season. Meaning ”The River” in Norwegian, Elva take their inspiration from the natural world, the beauty of the Scandinavian summer and the harshness of the winter. Several of the songs on the album are tellingly inspired by the birth of Elizabeth and Ola’s daughter.
Some might feel the album is sonically most similar to the Allo Darlin’ album Europe, thanks in part to the lush string arrangements courtesy of long-time Allo Darlin’ collaborator Dan Mayfield on violin and cellist Ofelia Østrem Ossum. Michael Collins, who played drums in Allo Darlin’, recorded and produced the album, building on work he has done in recent years with artists like Metronomy and Girl Ray. Diego Ivars on bass and Jørgen Nordby on drums round out the band.
The sonic palate of the record is detailed and delicate, with a mix of acoustic and distorted guitars, vintage keyboards, strings and intricate vocal harmonies. Lyrically and melodically, the album showcases the depth of both Morris’s and Innset’s songwriting. At times recalling the gentleness and screech of American indie bands like Yo La Tengo, at other times the country-tinged heartbreak of Linda Ronstadt or Laura Veirs, Winter Sun is something of its own: a rich combination of polar opposites. Summer and winter, Australia and Norway.
Elizabeth says: ”I really wanted to make an album that had a nice mix of really quiet and gentle songs, together with the louder feedbacky stuff. It was great to be able to share songwriting duties with Ola, as finding time to write is trickier these days with a baby in tow, so it really took the pressure off to write all the songs myself. It also gives the album another dimension, and I have always loved bands with two songwriters, like The Go-Betweens. Hopefully we bring out the best in each other’s writing. But having less pressure on myself to write all the songs meant that the songs I could contribute felt worthy enough of having a place on the record.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eyreton Hall - Weekend.
Kiwi, chamber folk duo Eyreton Hall share a whimsical new track 'Weekend' off their upcoming album Spaces, which is due out May 24 on Marigold Music.
Eyreton Hall will be celebrating the release of 'Weekend' with an intimate live show at 13th Floor on Sunday 3 March, with special support from Sophie Mashlan.
Long time partners in creativity and in life; musicians Andrew Keegan and Toni Randle make up the heart of folk/chamber pop outfit, Eyreton Hall. Blending wide influences ranging from European jazz to classical to contemporary singer-songwriters, Eyreton Hall bring it all under the warm umbrella of Folk, telling stories of upheaval and coping, love and loss. Shining through it all is the voice of Toni Randle; a talent that urges you to feel the power and emotion in every note, and like the best of voices, draws you in completely to the stories being woven in song. Couple with Andrew Keegan’s intuitive, steady drumming feel, they are a musical pair unmatched.
Stepping forward to the present, Eyreton Hall have crafted a new and stunning album about family, hope, loss and grief, Spaces.
Self-written and co-produced with Ben King (Goldenhorse, Grand Rapids), Spaces is an authentic songbook from Randle and Keegan - written in the depths of coping with loss and grief, recovery, and finding hope and new beginnings. The ten-track story is the hearty follow up to their debut album Featherstitch, which prompted love from niche folk blogs and journalists around the globe. Spaces was mixed by Simon Gooding (The Map Room) and mastered by Howard Rogers (Bring It On Studios).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paper Cameras -We Hear Your Name.
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 a Tascam 8 track cassette recorder and began new material with longtime friend, Portland musician Nathan Junior(Dandy Warhols, The Early Stuff, M. Ward, Duover, Sea Wolf) and artist and taxidermist Little Debbie Bartling sharing time behind the mic with Nathan Junior. The result was The Easy Wolves Sessions, a lo-fi mix of bubblegum psych pop. Later, in 2016 Nathan Junior and Carothers recorded the E.P. Mars Was Yesterday with producer Adam Selzer (Decemberists/Peter Buck/M. Ward/ Fleet Foxes) at Type Foundry Studios where Carothers’ vision began to take on an identity reflective of the kind of alchemy that comes from friendships and like minded musicians, highlighting the strength and creativity of each member.
Carothers, a native Tennessean, had known Tripp Lamkins (The Grifters/Dragoon) since the early days of famed the Memphis band The Grifters. Upon hearing about the Paper Cameras project, Tripp made his way to Portland, OR to record at Jackpot Studio with Tape Op founder Larry Crane (Elliott Smith/Sleater Kinney/ Go-Betweens/Thermals). They began tracking with no band rehearsal and recorded the record in just only two days. With rhythmic complexity and blended harmonies, the outcome is reminiscent of a lower-fi New Pornographers, Wedding Present, with hints of later Royal Trux. Larry Crane’s honest straight-ahead production style anchors the songs and would easily be in step with fans of Summer Cannibals.
This collaboration of veteran musicians came together more smoothly than they ever could have imagined. After the songs were instrumentally framed, Carothers brought painter Michelle Anne Muldrow to sing with Nathan Junior. The result became the EP Painted Light, due out in the fall of 2018 on No Night Travel. Painted Light floats within sonic range between 90’s garage influenced rock and inventive, harmony-laden 80’s power pop.
Look out for the Painted Light EP out March 8th on No Night Travel Records.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elva - Athens.
Elva is the new project of Allo Darlin’s Elizabeth Morris and Ola Innset, of the Norwegian bands Making Marks and Sunturns.
Winter Sun was recorded in the autumn of 2018 in an old school house in the Swedish forest, during moose hunting season. Meaning ”The River” in Norwegian, Elva take their inspiration from the natural world, the beauty of the Scandinavian summer and the harshness of the winter. Several of the songs on the album are tellingly inspired by the birth of Elizabeth and Ola’s daughter.
Some might feel the album is sonically most similar to the Allo Darlin’ album Europe, thanks in part to the lush string arrangements courtesy of long-time Allo Darlin’ collaborator Dan Mayfield on violin and cellist Ofelia Østrem Ossum. Michael Collins, who played drums in Allo Darlin’, recorded and produced the album, building on work he has done in recent years with artists like Metronomy and Girl Ray. Diego Ivars on bass and Jørgen Nordby on drums round out the band.
The sonic palate of the record is detailed and delicate, with a mix of acoustic and distorted guitars, vintage keyboards, strings and intricate vocal harmonies. Lyrically and melodically, the album showcases the depth of both Morris’s and Innset’s songwriting. At times recalling the gentleness and screech of American indie bands like Yo La Tengo, at other times the country-tinged heartbreak of Linda Ronstadt or Laura Veirs, Winter Sun is something of its own: a rich combination of polar opposites. Summer and winter, Australia and Norway.
Elizabeth says: ”I really wanted to make an album that had a nice mix of really quiet and gentle songs, together with the louder feedbacky stuff. It was great to be able to share songwriting duties with Ola, as finding time to write is trickier these days with a baby in tow, so it really took the pressure off to write all the songs myself. It also gives the album another dimension, and I have always loved bands with two songwriters, like The Go-Betweens. Hopefully we bring out the best in each other’s writing. But having less pressure on myself to write all the songs meant that the songs I could contribute felt worthy enough of having a place on the record.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eyreton Hall - Weekend.
Kiwi, chamber folk duo Eyreton Hall share a whimsical new track 'Weekend' off their upcoming album Spaces, which is due out May 24 on Marigold Music.
Eyreton Hall will be celebrating the release of 'Weekend' with an intimate live show at 13th Floor on Sunday 3 March, with special support from Sophie Mashlan.
Long time partners in creativity and in life; musicians Andrew Keegan and Toni Randle make up the heart of folk/chamber pop outfit, Eyreton Hall. Blending wide influences ranging from European jazz to classical to contemporary singer-songwriters, Eyreton Hall bring it all under the warm umbrella of Folk, telling stories of upheaval and coping, love and loss. Shining through it all is the voice of Toni Randle; a talent that urges you to feel the power and emotion in every note, and like the best of voices, draws you in completely to the stories being woven in song. Couple with Andrew Keegan’s intuitive, steady drumming feel, they are a musical pair unmatched.
Stepping forward to the present, Eyreton Hall have crafted a new and stunning album about family, hope, loss and grief, Spaces.
Self-written and co-produced with Ben King (Goldenhorse, Grand Rapids), Spaces is an authentic songbook from Randle and Keegan - written in the depths of coping with loss and grief, recovery, and finding hope and new beginnings. The ten-track story is the hearty follow up to their debut album Featherstitch, which prompted love from niche folk blogs and journalists around the globe. Spaces was mixed by Simon Gooding (The Map Room) and mastered by Howard Rogers (Bring It On Studios).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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