 |
| Photo - Gonzalo Lopez |
Norwegian musician, composer and producer Fredrik Svabø has released the new live album Kingo's Treat - Live at Wembley Arena, recorded while supporting Aurora on tour earlier this year. Watch the live video for 'Sophie' from Wembley Arena here.
Speaking on the live album release, Svabø said: "To me, it feels pretty surreal that we got to play a show at such a legendary venue, especially with this kind of music. The fact it was only our fourth ever show as a band makes it even more special. We ended up delivering such a great performance that I wanted to share it with the world. I’m really excited for people to hear the music in its purest form – played live on stage by musicians in front of an amazing audience, capturing the moment."
On stage, Svabø is joined by a cast of some of Norway's finest jazz musicians including Ola Øverby (drums) Andreas Rukan (bass) and Lyder Øvreås Røed (trumpet) - all members of the cult Oslo neo-soul outfit Fieh. Woven between the immersive instrumentals, are the breezy and poignant vocals of Thea Wang - lending the album both its voice and heart, traversing themes of heartbreak, indecision, and new beginnings.
The studio version of debut album 'Kingo's Treat' is also set to be released on vinyl in the UK for the first time on 17th October, having been released digitally in March of this year. Drawing influence from jazz musicians such as Bill Frisell and Brian Blade, plus taking further cues from the work of Kendrick Lamar, D'Angelo and Blake Mills, 'Kingo's Treat' is an expansive, freewheeling album that unspools itself into loose moments of improvisation before snapping into shape with tight melodies and enduring hooks.
============================================================================
Behold the "Octagram"! For FÏX8:SËD8 the number 8 is more than just another digit. When the 8 just turns by a little in the context of the German electro industrial project's sixth album, it becomes the symbol for infinity.
Infinity and the promise of eternal life also constitute one of the main tools instrumentalised by institutionalised religions to control their followers, which is one of the lyrical themes present on "Octagram".
The number 8 is also reflected in the structure of the album, which consists of 8 songs with a playing-time of 8 minutes. The new songs break out from the classic verse and chorus formula. Freshly introduced odd time signatures and polyrhythmic experiments add to the overall progressive feel this creates.
No worries, "Octagram" features all the signature elements and sounds that define FÏX8:SËD8: The album is as playful, complex, and melodic as its predecessors. The drums push even a bit harder than before, while the vocals are even more diverse on "Octagram". Vocal samples consist mainly of recitations quoting the last words of persons that were about to receive the death sentence.
============================================================================
Lone Valentine (Jedediah Taylor) is a genre-fluid singer/songwriter from the American Midwest, conjuring music ranging from raucous rock and roll bangers to emotive and adventurous alternative folk.
While primarily a guitarist and vocalist, Lone Valentine plays with diverse acoustic instrumentation - from cello and piano to crystal glasses and handcrafted music boxes - bringing a timelessness that has both warm familiarity and mysterious singularity.
Unafraid to be both deeply personal and unflinchingly silly, no topic or approach is off limits in the romantically imaginative world of Lone Valentine.
Jedediah is also a tenured member of Chicago based indie-Americana band, Wild Earp (both iterations: & The Free For Alls, & The OK Chorale), an Ameripolitan Music Award-winning group (2023) recently appearing in the FX series Justified: City Primeval and whose music is featured on a current United Airlines ad.
============================================================================
